


Logan's Regression

by TheSilverFrames



Category: Sanders Sides
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Crying, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Internal Conflict, Night Terrors, Nightmares, tiny!logan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-04-27 23:39:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14436666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSilverFrames/pseuds/TheSilverFrames
Summary: Virgil had experienced regression the most of the four sides, Patton regressed second most, and Roman regressed twice before. All of the sides had regressed at least once… all of them, except Logan. But what would happen if Logan did regress? A lot of internal conflict apparently....Why does everything I touch turn to sad?!





	1. Chapter 1

Regression was a common occurrence for the sides. In events of high stress, emotional shutdowns, or,  _ heaven forbid,  _ trauma it wasn't uncommon for sides to regress to the size and mindset of a young child. The severity of the cause would dictate how one would act in these periods of temporary de-aging. Akin to the butterfly effect, small and minuscule details would snowball, making each time this sort of thing happened a vastly different experience. Sometimes they would have memories of being an adult, those were usually when the attacks were less severe, though there were exceptions, and the regression would end quickly, lasting a day or two at the most. Other times, however, they would have no memories of adulthood, they would act exactly like they did as a child. This usually occurred when the attack was awful enough to make the side effected break down crying or screaming. Ages would vary from three to seven. Regression would normally last several days or even weeks if that happened.

This had become so commonplace that none of the sides would bat an eye when one of them would randomly start crying for seemingly no reason only to poof into a child the next minute. Of the four, Virgil had experienced regression the most. It made sense, his connection to Thomas came with some problems, to say the least. The sides had certain connections with Thomas that they never really brought up to him, they hadn’t had a situation where they thought to discuss it. Certain levels of stress were linked to them, if Thomas had an emotional shutdown Patton would have one too, if Thomas went through heavy confidence loss Roman would too, and if Thomas had an anxiety attack Virgil would too and so on and so forth. Those usually triggered the regression, and with how much stress and worry was put on Virgil's shoulders, he had regressed several times. He was also the one that introduced the concept of the other sides.    
  
Before the sides had begun to truly accept Virgil, or even knew his name, they didn’t really notice when he would just up and disappear for a few days or even weeks, normally chalking it up to him wishing to be by himself. Patton was the only one who would start to worry about the anxious trait, but he never really got the chance to check on him because he would get distracted easily, usually because of work or something going on with Thomas. But after the  _ ‘Anxiety ducking out incident,’ _ the other three sides became hyper-aware of Virgil’s feelings and actions in an attempt to make him feel more welcomed. So when he didn’t come out of his room one day, the others began to worry. At first, they thought he was just sleeping in, but as the hours ticked by, they became more and more concerned. Eventually, Patton went up to Virgil’s room to try and check on him, only to find that he was now the size of a child and sobbing in a corner. They all panicked, of course, this was all new and confusing to them. There was finger-pointing, arguing, blaming, and frightening questions.

Would he stay this way forever? Was this only temporary? Did Roman mess with that Dragon Witch again? How would this affect Thomas?  _ How did this even happen??  _ Their questions were answered when he changed back to his normal age after a week. He explained his deep-rooted connection to Thomas, and how severe anxiety attacks had triggered regression in the past. Each of the sides felt guilty for not noticing his predicaments earlier. Soon after, regression became something that the four accepted as something that just happened. Three out of the four sides had experienced regression at least once. Patton regressed second most of the sides, normally after a severe emotional shutdown, his regressions usually lasted a few days, sometimes a week. Roman regressed twice before, both times for only three days. All of the sides had regressed at least once… all of them, except Logan. It was honestly surprising, and a little confusing, that he had yet to regress one time, considering that he underwent so much pressure. Perhaps it was because he never reached his limit? He didn’t really know.   
  
Logan was not very keen on the idea of regressing anyway. It would cause too many problems while only temporarily solving one, not to mention how embarrassing the whole ordeal would be. So he avoided overstepping his levels, which was not an easy feat. Logan was logic, he was Thomas’ brain, and he was the one who kept things in order. He kept Thomas grounded, made sure he stayed on schedule, hell he made all the damn schedules! He was the literal  _ ‘brains of the operation.’ _ If he were to regress, things might fall into chaos! So no, no he was not going to allow himself to become stressed enough to warrant regression. No, not at all. It was logical and possibly dangerous. But, even someone who tried to keep their stress low couldn’t avoid the eventual oversight that would one day occur.

Logan sat at the desk in his room, pencil placed firmly on the planner in front of him. If one were to not know the context of the situation, they would be shocked at the state of the logical traits bedroom. Crumpled up paper overflowed from a nearby trash bin, spilling over and littering the carpeted floor, and his desk was covered with more papers and eraser shavings. In short, his room was a mess. It was completely silent, save for the tapping of the pencil gripped tightly in his hand as it repeatedly came in contact with his paper, creating a large, black, messy dot. Minutes passed as he just repeated the action, then he let out a frustrated huff and let his pencil fall from his hand. He pushed up his glasses and rubbed his face with an exacerbated groan. This was not going as he had planned, no not at all. Logan was attempting to write out Thomas’ schedule, keyword  _ ‘attempting.’  _ It was all so vexatious, he had made all of his host’s schedules for years, and he made sure that he followed them precisely. Yes, he had small hiccups here and there, but normally, with a few cups of coffee, sheer pride, and stubbornness, he would come through in the end.   
  
So why, pray tell, was this time so divergent from the other times he had written Thomas’ schedules? Logan truly didn’t know, and that infuriated him to no end. The logical trait ordinarily prided himself for keeping his emotions inside him. You see, Logan had gained a bit of a reputation as the trait that lacked emotions, even though that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Logan had emotions, he just didn’t show them. He had many logical reasons for this. Emotions caused problems, large and small, he could point to Patton just to prove that hypothesis. Logan had witnessed Morality have emotional breakdowns, and each time Patton looked so hurt, and scared, and those events made him decide that he never wanted to experience anything as upsetting as that. Emotions also interfered with rational thought, often times overruling the clear-cut decisions that one should take. So, Logan bottled his feelings up and forced them away. He was logic, he would reason to himself. Emotions just get in the way of your purpose. Illogical and inconsequential. 

He glared at the planner as though it had wronged him in some way, and in a way it had, then he sighed. Picking up his pencil again, he silently erased the dot he had all but stabbed onto the paper, adding more shavings to the growing pile on his desk. Every time he thought he had the flawless version of the schedule, something would come up in Thomas’ life, causing him to have to rewrite the whole thing over again. This had been occurring for the past _ four days. _ And this was the  _ fifth _ revision he had written, not even counting the other fruitless drafts that filled his trash bin. Once the dot was no longer on the paper Logan released the pencil again, and huffed, then he let his face slam into the desk. No matter how much he fought off the raising tension clawing at his being, it would just come back stronger. Like a boomerang, no matter how hard you throw it, it would just return back to its source, and if you didn’t pay attention, it would hit you right in the face, leading to nothing but pain and regret. And that was precisely what Logan was about to experience.

Finally, he lifted his face from where he had, quite ungracefully, face planted and stared at himself in the mirror hanging on the wall in front of him. Patton had given it to him, he stated that if he hung it in front of his desk he could give himself pep talks to keep himself motivated while writing schedules and video ideas. Highly improbable he thought, nevertheless Logan humored Patton and hung it up anyway, mostly to not hurt the moral side’s feelings. Though he never honestly used it. It was simply a decoration now. Logan glared at the face that stared back at him. Pale, hunched shoulders, disheveled hair, and baggy-eyes, the embodiment of an exhausted individual. In any regular case, someone in Logan’s shoes would just pack up for the day, take a nap, or at the very least, rest for a little while. But Logan was not going to give in, he  _ despised _ giving in. His core purpose was to keep everything running smoothly, to make sure Thomas thought everything through, and be the voice of reason. He was the planner, the brain, he was _ logic. _

If he couldn’t get something so simple done, then that means he failed, and if he failed at making a schedule, then he would have failed Thomas. He could not allow that. So he tore his gaze from the mirror, picked his pencil back up, and began silently writing once more. He was going to get this finished, no matter what it cost him. Where he got this sudden surge of confidence and motivation, he didn’t know. Perhaps it had some correlation with the slight amount of stress that was lifted from his shoulders? Thomas must have done something outside the Mindscape. Just as Logan settled in and began to focus, the snowball slipped, and began to roll downhill…  _ fast. _ It was something so small, so tiny, that changed the course of that day. Thomas and Joan had just completed a prop needed for the next video, a fake laptop akin to the one used in one of his past videos, and both of them were relieved. This had taken them two days to make.   
  
Thomas went to go put it in a safe place, not wanting to risk it getting broken, but it appeared that the world was against him today. As he rounded his couch, he straight up tripped over his own feet sending the prop flying across the room. It crashed to the floor, the monitor, which was just a mirror, cracked heavily upon impact, and the keys they had just finished gluing on went flying around the room. Thomas just stared in shock, and Joan quickly rushed to his side to see if he was okay. All that time, just… went right out the window. He quickly reassured Joan that he was okay… but, the prop was not. The two of them silently picked up the now broken laptop, and Joan shot Thomas a sympathetic look. “We can probably fix it, Thomas.” They muttered, placing a hand on his back as a comforting gesture. Thomas, of course, knew that. They could fix it. But now they needed to buy more supplies, sure they could just pick up the scattered keys and glue them back on, but they would need to buy another mirror. Finding the first one was hard enough, it needed to be just the right size to fit into the fake monitor casing, now they had to get  _ another _ one.

In any other case, Thomas would have just been a little annoyed, maybe disappointed, but as the stress of the past few days caught up to him, the man felt himself becoming more and more irritated. Thomas was pissed. Joan caught on when they noticed Thomas clench his hands into fists and his eyes snap shut. They became serious, turning to face Thomas fully and shifting their arm so his hand was settled on their friend’s shoulder. “Thomas, breath. Take a break and go upstairs. I’ll see what I can do about the prop.” Reluctantly Thomas did as he was told, throwing out a barely audible; “Thank you.” before shuffling upstairs. Once he reached the top, Thomas made his way to his room and flopped onto his bed, not even bothering to close his door. He laid there in silence for few minutes, then he let out an enraged groan. The stress had caught up to him. In the event of high stress, humans tend to react in one of several ways: Anxiety and depression, anger and outbursts, burnout and inability to focus, withdrawing socially and forgetfulness, or increased irritability and restlessness.

Thomas was tipping towards having an enraged outburst. He had to buy a new mirror, after it took forever to find the first one, had to reglue the keys, had to take  _ more _ time out of his schedule to remake this prop. Thomas could feel more and more frustration build up inside of him, it burned. He was backed into a corner, so stressed out of his mind that he didn’t know what to do, who to talk to, or how to make it stop. Finally, everything snapped, and Thomas began to cry out of pure frustration and stress. That’s when the snowball crashed. Back in the Mindscape, Logan still sat at his desk writing diligently, smiling to himself. If he kept going at this pace he might get finished within a few hours! He could feel pride well up inside of him. He hadn’t failed, he hadn’t disappointed Thomas, everything was coming full-circle. Then he stopped writing mid-word, the grip on his pencil tightening hard, and his body going rigid. That was… perplexing.

It felt like someone just slapped him right across the face. Then he felt a pain well up in his chest, it was minuscule, but it was there. Suddenly, it intensified, becoming sharper and more noticeable. It felt as though someone had taken a scolding hot iron and pressed it firmly to his heart, making his chest burn. He gasped when the pain became unbearable, dropping his pencil, placing a hand to his chest and hissing shakily. It  _ hurt,  _ oh god it hurt. And it just continued! It was getting worse and worse, burning, smoldering, pain. His eyes snapped shut, his hand clenched at the front of his shirt, and he began to shake. What on earth was going on?! His free hand went to his head, the palm pressing against his forehead as he felt a headache hit him hard. His head felt like it just got hit by a truck. His breathing suddenly became erratic, sharp intakes, shakey outtakes, quick, then slow. Why was he in such pain?? Then his breathing shifted from erratic to panicked, short, quick breaths. What was the cause? It felt like he was losing air, like some unknown source was tearing it from his lungs, replacing it with this burning sensation. Why won’t it stop!? Make it stop! Make it  _ stop!! Make it stop!!! _

Logan felt his body tense up painfully as the sheer agony reached its peak. It was  _ unbearable. _ Logan’s mouth fell open, the tears he had been fighting back sprang into his eyes, and he  _ screamed. _ He screamed loud enough to shatter glass as a ripple effect rolled over his body, making him curl in on himself. So many repressed emotions surged into his mind, fear, hurt, confusion, worry, all of them hit him at once. It was all too overwhelming. So much so that all Logan could do was lay curled up in his chair, having pulled his legs into his seat, arms wrapped tightly around the limbs, and head buried against them. Then, the pain just…  _ vanished.  _ Like the flip of a coin, one minute the pain was excruciating and the next it was gone, as though it had never been there to begin with, leaving him as just a trembling ball in his chair. He didn’t even experience any sort of phantom pains or aftershocks. It was as though the whole situation had never taken place. Jarring. 

A second ticked by before Logan slowly uncurled himself from the ball he had put himself in, taking shallow breaths in an attempt to calm himself and pushing up his glasses again to rub the stray tears away. He sighed shakily, letting his glasses fall back over his eyes before adjusting them, noting how… large and heavy they suddenly felt. Peculiar. They hadn’t felt like that before. Perhaps it was a side-effect of what had just occurred? Maybe his body had been slightly weakened from whatever that was? Logan leaned back slightly, wanting very much to rest for a moment before returning to his work, after all he was still required to complete it, when he jolted forward after he almost  _ fell through _ the back of his chair. That couldn’t be right… Logan’s eyes practically shot open, and he whirled around, staring at the backrest of the chair. It had grown remarkably taller in size… Logan felt the color drain from his face as he slowly turned back around. 

He brought his hands up from where they had been resting on the seat and stared at them in stunned silence. They were… small, little, tiny, minuscule,  _ not adult.  _ Logan’s breathing sped up again as he studied his palms, then slowly turned them to look at the back of his hands. This isn’t right. This is wrong, so very wrong! His glasses, they felt heavy, big, they kept slipping down his face more than normal. The mirror! Logan quickly stood up in the chair, almost falling over in the process, and stared, wide-eyed and mouth gaped, at the reflection the glass showed him. He gasped sharply, tiny hands shooting up and grabbing at the sides of his face. He… he was so small, face slightly pudgy, stubby hands, glasses far too large for his little face, eyes big and wide, tiny nose, short body. Logan panicked, his heavy breathing increasing tenfold, and his body shaking like a leaf. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! This wasn’t okay! This wasn’t right! This wasn’t good, not at all!   
  
He had regressed. He was a child. A small, defenseless, baby-faced, child. This. Was. Bad. He couldn’t regress! He was logic! He had work to do! He had to help Thomas! Logan desperately attempted to fight the rapidly raising fear that was filling his now little body. He felt nauseous like he was about to vomit. It felt like he was being pulled in different directions, part of him screaming to fix this and the other smaller part telling him to go find one of the others. He ignored the latter, he was not letting the others see him like this. “No, no, no, no, no, no,  _ no-!” _ Logan scrambled to get down from his chair so he could… well, he didn’t know what he would do, he just knew he wanted down from this chair. Unfortunately, he overstepped and ended up slipping off the seat. His arm scrapped along the edge, causing him to shriek, hitting the ground with a rather loud thump. He whimpered, looking over the long scrape across his lower arm. There was no blood, it appeared he had only scratched off a thin layer of skin, leaving a long, white abrasion.

Logan sniffled, biting his lower lip. Why did this hurt so much? This shouldn’t hurt as much as it did. It was a simple abrasion, not even a severe one at that, there was no blood nor any broken bones or skin, yet it felt like someone had slashed his arm with a hot knife. He felt tears welling up in his eyes, and he quickly tried to force them down. This was illogical and pointless. He shouldn’t be on the verge of tears. He was above all of this! “Dun’ cry, dun’ cry, dun’ cry, d-dun’ cry-.” He muttered to himself. However, his eyes decided to betray him because tears started slipping from his eyes, followed by sobs tumbling out of his little mouth. Logan brought his arm close, cradling it to his chest as though it was broken while he cried and sobbed in pain. It stung, really, really bad.

As these events transpired, Patton was downstairs in the living room, eyes fixated on the TV. He was currently watching the new Steven Universe episode with a big goofy grin on his face. The moral side loved this cartoon so darn much! He only wished that they would air it more, it seemed like it rarely came on nowadays. But hey, that meant it felt more special when it did come on. Patton had just finished making some chocolate chip cookies, which were sitting on the table in front of the couch. He leaned over and picked up one, nomming at the snack. Then he jumped, almost choking on the cookie when he heard screaming coming from upstairs. His head snapped to the top of the staircase, brown eyes wide with surprise and worry. He looked over at Virgi, who had been laying on the couch next to him, and they exchanged concerned looks. “That sounded like it came from Logan’s room…” The anxious trait muttered, looking a little startled from the unexpected loud noise. Patton nodded, standing from the comfy chair. “I think you’re right. I’m gonna go check on him.” He said slowly, making his way to the stairs, worried expression never leaving his face.

Virgil nodded back at him, then returned to scrolling through Tumblr on his phone. Patton began walking upstairs, wondering briefly what could have made Logan scream like that, only to be pulled from his thoughts by a child-like shriek coming from Logan’s room. The moral trait immediately started sprinting in the direction of his room. That didn't sound right, nor did it sound like Logan. He didn’t even knock on the door, Patton just threw it open, expecting to see Logan badly hurt, having a nightmare,  _ something _ bad. Well… he was half right. Logan  _ was _ hurt, though it didn’t look that bad. Patton was more concerned about Logan’s appearance at the moment. He was small. A child. It didn’t take long for Patton to realize what had happened, he had seen this happen to Virgil many, many times. Logan had regressed. “Logan?” The boy in question’s head snapped up to stare at Patton. The moral trait felt his heart break when he saw Logan’s face. Tear stained cheeks, wide glossed-over eyes, scared and hurt. The poor boy looked absolutely pitiful.

Logan felt his fear spike. He wanted to run away, hide from the now older side, to save himself the embarrassment and pain of how he would react, but, for some reason, he didn’t. He couldn’t fathom why. Instead, he lifted his little arms and made a grabbing motion at Patton, pleading with his eyes for the older side to do…  _ something! _ “P-Pat-in...” Was all he could choke out, the trait’s name feeling foreign to Logan’s mouth. Patton couldn’t take it anymore, his fatherly instincts kicked into high gear and he crossed the room quickly, got down on his knees, and gently pulled Logan into his arms. Logan clung to Patton immediately, burying his face in his chest and crying uncontrollably. His tiny body shook as the sobs wracked his frame. “Oh Logan... what happened buddy?” Patton’s voice was softer than normal, laced with concern and worry, but at the same time _ love.  _ Logan had only heard Patton use that tone with Virgil and Roman, never had it been directed at himself. The logical side decided in that moment that he wanted to hear it more. “I-I-I f-fell.” He muttered shakily, unballing one of his fists from Patton’s shirt and pointing at the chair.

Patton looked up at the chair and frowned, a sympathetic look crossing his face. “You fell off the chair?” He asked gently, lowering his gaze back down to the trembling child in his arms. Logan nodded his head in response, not trusting his mouth to form coherent words at the moment. “Oh buddy, are you okay? You didn’t get hurt did you?” Patton coaxed, rubbing Logan’s back in order to comfort him. Logan lifted his head from Patton’s chest, just enough so he could hear him. “S-Scwaped m-my awm…” He admitted, not looking up at the older trait, preferring to keep him from seeing the pathetic look on his face. He momentarily grimaced at his poor pronunciation, simple words seemed a little harder to say for his tiny mouth. Patton let out a soft “Oh.” and softly ran a hand through the little side’s fluffy hair. “Can I see your arm Logan?” Logan hesitated, then carefully shifted his arm so Patton could see it. He whimpered quietly due to the skin still feeling sore and stingy. Patton took Logan’s wrist into his hand, making sure not to touch the scrape, and looked it over.

It didn’t look too bad, the whiteness had faded into a light red, and he wasn’t bleeding. But Patton knew how children worked. To Logan, it felt less like a simple scrape from a fall and more like someone had burned his arm. The poor boy must’ve been scared to death. Finally, Logan lifted his head to look up at Patton, pain clear on his little face. “It ‘urts P-Pat-in…” He managed, using his free hand to push up his glasses and wipe some of his tears away, only for them to be replaced moments later by new ones. All he wanted was for Patton to make the pain go away. He hated it. “I know it does Lo, but don’t worry, it’ll be okay. Your arm will get better.” Patton assured him, rubbing his thumb across Logan’s little wrist and bringing him back into his chest. Logan knew his arm would get better, he knew it. It was common logic that most, if not all, wounds would eventually heal. He didn’t need to be told that. Yet, for some reason, it felt comforting hearing Patton say that even if it did make Logan feel more like a clueless child.

Minutes passed as the two sat on the ground, Patton gently cradling Logan’s head while the other rubbed up and down his back, before the young side’s sobbing subsided into sniffles. “Feel better Lo?” Patton asked, voice still soft and warm, not daring to move Logan in case he still needed him. Logan merely let out a tiny hum, not moving from the warm embrace Patton was providing. It was odd. Patton had hugged him before, numerous times actually, but for some strange reason, this time felt…  _ different. _ He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Logan shifted his head slightly, staring up at his desk, and then remembering what he was doing before this whole situation began. “I need to finish Th-Thaaa-.” Logan frowned, sounding out the name in his head. “Tom-iss’ sc-sceh-do-all.” He winced at how badly he just butchered the last word and Thomas’ name. Patton was torn between chuckling and looking worried. “I don’t think you’re gonna be working on anything big for a while Logan, you’re too little.”

Logan shifted his head again and glared up at Patton, making the most serious face he could muster. He just had a smaller body, he was still him damn it! “M’  _ not _ wittle.” Patton couldn’t help it, he let a snicker escape his lips. This was too adorable. Logan’s little “serious face” looked like nothing more than a child pouting. The moral trait smiled down at Logan. “Sure Kiddo, and I’m not Patton, I’m just a monkey wearing clothes.” Logan huffed, crossing his little arms and puffing up his cheeks, making Patton chuckle. Oh how he wished he could take a picture right now, that face was adorable. “But you are small Lo, you don’t look older than four years old!” It was true, Logan was quite small, smaller than an average child. His clothes had shrunk down to his new size, except for his glasses which took up a good portion of his face. He looked so darn  _ cute. _ Logan’s face fell slightly. He didn’t like this, not at all. He needed to get Thomas’ schedule done! It was his purpose to keep everything in order, he couldn’t do that if he was a four year old! It was all so frustrating.

Patton noticed Logan’s sudden downcast expression, so he wracked his brain to think of a way to cheer him up, after all, he was going to be like this for a least a day or two, don’t want him to spend all that time being a lil’ pouty child. “Hey Kiddo, why don’t we go downstairs and watch a movie? We could watch Big Hero Six! I’m sure Virgil wouldn’t mind watching it with us.” Logan’s face lit up slightly when Patton mentioned Big Hero Six, he really loved that movie, normally he wasn’t one for animated shows or movies, they just gave him headaches because they never followed any sense of logic. Big Hero Six was his only exception to that, sure it still had aspects that defied logic, but the better qualities of the movie outweighed the more absurd moments. However, when Patton mentioned Virgil, Logan’s face drained of color and he shook his head frantically. “No! ‘irgil an’ Ro can’t see me!” He shouted, a little louder than he intended, and not even trying to pronounce Roman’s name. He pled with his eyes for Patton not to take him downstairs, or outside his room for that matter.

Patton blinked in surprise, not expecting Logan’s reaction in the slightest. “Why don’t you want them to see you Lo?” He asked, placing a hand on his back in an attempt to calm him down some. “Dey'll make fun-a me…” He whispered quietly, averting his gaze to his lap as he fiddled with his shirt. Patton’s eyebrows shot up. Logan scooted closer to the older trait, burying his face in Patton’s shirt, and gripping the soft cloth in his tiny hands to try and calm his growing fears. Patton wrapped his arms around him, pulling him a bit closer. “Why do you think they’ll make fun of you Logan?” He prodded softly, making sure not to force it out of the tiny side, he wanted Logan to know he could trust him. Logan didn’t respond for a moment. In his head, Logan had a good reason for believing that the other two sides would make fun of him. Okay, maybe Virgil wouldn’t, after all, he had been through regression more times than any of the other sides, however, he and the anxious trait didn’t often see eye to eye. They had gotten into arguments in the past, and with how heated they could get, it would make sense for him to make fun of him now that he was so… vulnerable. And Roman,  _ dear god, _ Roman would most certainly make fun of him.

It was no secret that Logan and Roman never got along. Roman was nonsensical, irrational, and his obsession with following one’s dreams often defied all sense of logic. Roman never took the simple, clear-cut solutions to a problem, he chose the most over the time and senseless solutions. The two’s viewpoints clashed on almost every occasion, so much so that the two just straight up avoided each other sometimes. If Roman saw him in this state,  _ heaven forbid, _ he would never hear the end of it. So no, under no circumstances did Logan want the other two sides to see him. “‘irgil an’ Ro dun' wike me…” Logan murmured, not looking up at Patton. He knew how the moral side would react. Shock, confusion, maybe disappointment. Logan didn’t want to see any of it. The older trait’s eyes widened, then softened sympathetically. Did Logan really think the Virgil and Roman didn’t like him? Yes the three of them butted heads, but that didn’t mean that the two didn’t like him. “Logan, that’s not true. Virgil and Roman both like you.” He reassured the little side, stroking along his back gently. Logan lifted his head again, his bleak expression giving away that he wasn’t convinced. “But… we fight…”

Patton pulled Logan from his chest and cupped his cheeks in his hands, keeping his head in place so he could look at him. “Yes, you do. But Logan, everyone fights, as much as I wish we could, we can’t be positive twenty-four-seven, that’s downright impossible. People are different, you, Virgil and Roman are all different. You’re not going to get along all the time. No one expects you to.” He explained, keeping his eyes locked with Logan’s to show that he was serious. “Now, do you want to go downstairs and watch Big Hero Six?” Logan stared up at Patton in disbelief. Never in his life did Logan think that  _ Patton _ of all people would say something like that. As the words sunk in, Logan nodded his head slowly. Patton smiled warmly at the boy’s response, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Well, let’s head on down then buddy.” Logan blinked, touching his hand to the spot Patton had kissed, a little electric feeling running through his arm. A gentle, warm feeling raised in his chest, accompanied by this craving to stay by Patton’s side and not let him leave.

Despite these urges to curl up in Patton’s arms and just bask in the warm and comforting feeling rippling across his body, he shoved and locked them away in the farthest part of his mind.  _ ‘You are Logic.’ _ He reminded himself.  _ ‘You do not engage with complicated emotions, nor do you indulge in childish behaviors such as attaching yourself to Patton. You are still an adult, you just have the body of a child. Stop giving in to these absurd impulses. Remember your purpose.’ _ Logan quickly scooted himself off of Patton’s lap and to his feet, taking a second to steady himself so he didn’t topple over. Patton stood soon after, smiling down at Logan. “Do you need me to carry you Lo, or can you walk?” His question prompted Logan to glare up at him, quite adorably, and cross his little arms. “I can wa’k, I dun' need to be cawwed Pat-in.” He asserted, using the calmest and serious tone his voice would allow, that being barely at all. He attempted to walk towards his door, but he didn’t get very far before he lost his balance and fell over.

Patton chuckled at the logical side’s attempt at walking, then he bent down and scooped him into his arms. “I think it’d be best for me to carry you for the time being, at least until you can walk on your own, sorry buddy.” Logan whined irritably, burying his face in Patton’s shoulder in utter embarrassment. “Dun’ pate-wen-eyes me.” He grumbled out, once again wincing at the way his mouth messed up his pronunciation. He knew full well that Patton enjoyed this. Patton simply giggled in reply, earning a sharp and slightly squeaky; “Not funny!” from Logan. The two exited the room and made their way downstairs. As they neared the bottom Logan pushed his head farther into Patton’s shoulder, intending to make himself as small as possible. Once they reached the bottom, Patton looked over at the couch and cleared his throat. Virgil, who was still laying on the couch, shifted his gaze from his phone to Patton. The moment he noticed the tiny Logan in his arms, his jaw dropped. Patton smiled nervously. “I found out why Logan was screaming.”

Logan didn’t dare look up, he didn’t want to see Virgil’s face. He knew he would make fun of him, he just knew it. Why wouldn’t he? Just get it over with so he could say “I told you so.” to Patton then lock himself in his room for the rest of the day! But nothing came. In fact, the room just fell silent for about a minute. That didn’t make him feel any better honestly, it just increased his fears. As the silence rained on, Patton gave Virgil a desperate ‘Please say something’ look, snapping the anxious trait from his confused trance. “I dunno what I was expecting, but this,” He gestured to Logan. “Was  _ not _ it.” That… that didn’t sound like scorning or teasing… just confusion. Logan slowly lifted his head from Patton’s shoulder and finally looked at Virgil, uncertainty written on his face. Was he luring him into a false sense of security to make the blows worse? The two locked eyes for a moment. Logan immediately felt his face heat up, and he quickly averted his gaze, pressing his face back into Patton’s shoulder. He suddenly felt… exceeding shy.  _ Odd. _

Virgil noticed the action and raised an eyebrow. He looked up at Patton with a confused expression. Not wanting to alarm the smaller side, he mouthed the words; “Does he remember us?” and upon receiving a nod shot Logan a worried look. This was the logical side’s first time regressing, Virgil knew exactly how he felt right now. Confused, upset, frustrated…  _ afraid. _ The screaming made sense now. It was a sign that Logan had hit his breaking point and was experiencing the pain before the regression. Never a pleasant feeling. Sympathy bubbled up inside of Virgil. His face softened, and he silently wracked his brain to come up with something to say in order to show him that he could trust him. “Hey, Logan?” He channeled the same demeanor he used when Roman and Patton regressed, his voice going soft, or as soft as his voice could be, and he sat up a little more. “You doing okay buddy?” He had to restrain his himself from saying ‘little buddy’ like he had called Patton and Roman in the past, not wanting to anger or irritate him.

Logan looked up again, face still flushed pink with embarrassment. He shook his head in response. No, he was not okay. He was the exact opposite of okay! Under what circumstances would him becoming a child be okay!? “S’post to be workin’” He mumbled, avoiding eye contact with the other side. God, he was acting pathetic. “We came down here to watch Big Hero Six.” Patton explained, then mouthing; “To get his mind  _ off _ of working.” Virgil let out a small “Ah.”, then he returned his gaze to Logan, putting on a kind expression. “I don’t mind watching it with you Logan, we haven’t seen it in a while. Maybe it’ll calm you down a bit?” Logan bit his bottom lip, but nodded shyly. “See Lo, I told you he wouldn’t make fun of you.” Patton whispered to him, grinning like a dork. Logan simply glared at him in return, earning a chuckle from the moral side before he gently sat the boy on the couch next to Virgil so he could go put the movie in.

Logan squirmed nervously on the couch, keeping his gaze off of Virgil and instead locking onto Patton. Conflicted was all that could accurately describe what was transpiring inside Logan’s mind at that moment. Two voices, both his own, fought amongst themselves in his head. One voice, a smaller, more  frightened sounding one kept urging him to go to Patton, to not let him leave his side. The other, sounding more like his regular self, would argue back, stating that he should stop acting so childish and unbecoming. _‘I need Patton, I feel safer around him.’_ One would say. _‘Stop that. That right there, it’s getting you nowhere! You are logic, you do not behave like this. You are the brain, the logic, and the reason. Your purpose is to work persistently and keep everything in order, not to sit here and cling to Patton like a child would to their father.’_ The other would assert sharply, not even trying to hide the venom in his voice. Yes, that was indeed him. Then the disagreement would continue.

_ ‘But I can’t do anything while I’m like this! I can’t even walk right, there’s no way I can keep things in order!’  _ More subdued, smaller, uncharastically frightened and less thought out. Still his voice, but less of the way he articulated? Like hearing himself being portrayed by someone besides himself.  _ ‘Stop being so pathetic! This is the exact kind of attitude that will lead to you failing your entire meaning for existing! If you keep this up you’re going to not only fail yourself, but Thomas and the other sides as well. Do you want that? Do you want them to be disappointed in you? You are logic, not some puny, weak minded, child. Act. Like. It.’ _ Why make him flinch? It was his own voice for sure, but why on earth was he startled by his  _ own voice? _ Nonetheless, Logan shrank down in the couch, eyes still glued to Patton as he wordlessly begged for him to come back so he could just be near him. What was causing this… this sudden absolute  _ need _ to be by Patton at all times?

This wasn’t like his average behavior at all, and yet it somehow felt like second-nature to him now. It didn’t help that he was so close to Virgil, who he all of a sudden felt extremely nervous being around. The anxious side looked down at Logan, taking immediate notice of the look in his eyes, and how he kept scooting away. “Are you okay Lo? Why are moving away from me?” Virgil thought for a second that he had done something wrong, what exactly that could’ve been was anyone's guess, but better be safe than sorry. Logan stared up at him, a tense expression on his face. “D-Dun wan you to make fun-a me…” He confessed, his voice almost inaudible, and he quickly shifted his gaze back to Patton. That look of want and quiet pleading returned to his eyes, as much as his mind pushed the thoughts and feelings way, they still bled into him slightly. Virgil was taken aback by Logan’s reasoning for distancing himself from the anxious side.

His face fell. Where did Logan get the idea that he would make fun of him? Was this based on something that happened between the two when the logical side was an adult? Yes, the two had their fights, and their disagreements, but they never  _ hated _ each other. Virgil felt a little hurt at the boy’s assumption that he would make fun of him, because he would  _ never _ do that,  _ especially _ in this situation. He knew what it was like regressing for the first time or just regressing near the other sides. It was confusing, scary, and caused a lot of conflicting emotions, especially if you still had your memories of being an adult. Like hell would he ever tease someone while they were in such a vulnerable state! He wouldn’t want someone teasing him while he was feeling weak, so he didn’t make tease people when they felt weak. “Logan, I wouldn’t do that to you. You know that.” Virgil would’ve placed a hand on his shoulder, hugged him,  _ something,  _ but he was hesitant to do so.

If Logan was anything like him, then he might not want to be touched right now. The anxious side internally scolded himself for not being able to do anything more. Virgil wasn’t exactly the best with children. Not to say that he disliked them, but kids could be loud, and way too full of energy, and erm…  _ brutally honest _ if they happen to be named Roman Sanders. Kids could just be overwhelming. Logan looked back at Virgil, and the look on his face broke the other side’s heart. He looked so sad and frightened. “B-But I’s mean to you…I’s not nice...” Was all he mumbled out.  _ Fuck. That.  _ Virgil was not going to sit there and just do nothing after Logan said  _ that. _ He pulled the smaller side into his lap, pausing for a moment to see if he would try to struggle or get away, and when he didn’t, he wrapped his arms around him. Logan squeaked slightly when he was brought into Virgil’s lap, his face turning pink from embarrassment.

“Logan,  _ Lo, _ don’t say that.” So gentle and kind, and not at all what he was expecting. Not at all what he deserved either if his thoughts were anything to go by.  _ ‘Make him let you go. This is improper and childish Logic. You are not a child, you just have the body of one. Get. Up.’ _ Harsh, unkind, unemotional, it sounded so much like him.  _ ‘But... he’s being nice to me. He’s not making fun of me or being mean.’  _ Quiet, frightened, tiny, so unlike himself, yet it felt as though that voice had been there since the beginning.  _ ‘Stop, stop whining, stop being so… so illogical! This is not how you behave, this is not how Logic behaves! You are not a child, you are not an infant, you are logic! Take responsibility back and do as you are supposed to!’  _ Logan whimpered sharply, biting his lip to silence any sounds threatening to escape his mouth. He found himself inwardly listening to the harsher voice, pushing his emotions and urges away and locking them in his metaphorical box.

_ ‘You are Logic.’  _ He reminded himself. _ ‘Logic does not feel, logic is not a feeling, it is a purpose. Your purpose is not to feel, it’s to think and keep everything in order. Remember that.’ _ However, his body and voice betrayed him and a small, scared; “M’ sowwy.” left his mouth. He hated how small and weak he sounded. Virgil shushed him immediately, worry crossing his face. “Hey, hey, hey, don’t apologize. You’ve got nothing to be sorry about.” Logan didn’t believe him, not at all. “I say’d mean tings to you!” He didn’t even attempt to hide the hurt in his voice because it was far too overwhelming. “I-I made you cwy…” There it was, the deep-rooted event, and the worst part was it was true. Logan had unintentionally made Virgil cry once. It was long before the anxious side had opened up to them, he, Virgil and Roman had managed to get into an argument over Thomas’ sleeping schedule… again, and this time it got more heated than the other times they had argued about this subject.

By that point, Logan was just too stressed, tired, and frustrated to think coherently about his choice of words, and ended up exclaiming; “Why don’t you just do us all a colossal favor Anxiety, and kindly go the fuck away!? Everything would be better  _ without _ you here!” He only saw the look that crossed Virgil’s face for a brief moment before he darted off to his room. Logan regretted his words instantly. Virgil looked so dejected and hurt, but the part that caught Logan’s attention the most was that he didn’t even look shocked, almost like he expected the outburst. The logical side caught the disappointed and disapproving expression that Patton shot him before the parental side rushed off to console Anxiety. Even Roman looked shocked and a little disappointed, and he fought with Anxiety much more than Logan did. Needless to say, Logan had crossed the line, and he felt absolutely horrible about it. He wanted to go and try to make amends, but he was afraid he that attempting to communicate with him while he was still distressed and hurt would only result in him lashing out or becoming livid.

It took the logical side three days to finally get the courage to apologize, mostly due to his own issues with thinking of what exactly he should say and how to come across that he was truly sorry. Even after he had apologized, Logan could feel tension between him and Virgil, and he worked as hard as he could to gain the other’s trust, what little he had, back. In hindsight, it was just a small event, a hurtful one, but a small one nonetheless. However, it stayed rooted in his mind as one of, on a list of many, reasons he locked his emotions away. He kept this event in the back of his mind to remind himself of what emotions could do to you if you didn’t keep them in check. Back in the present, Virgil sighed, running a hand through Logan’s hair. “Logan, I forgave you for that, remember?” Logan didn’t respond, nor did he look at Virgil, he just hung his head. It didn’t matter that he forgave him, it still happened. The anxious side’s frown grew at Logan’s lack of a reply.

“Logan, buddy, that happened forever ago, I’m over the whole thing. You don’t need to stress over it.” He moved his hand away from Logan’s hair to his chin, and he gently lifted his face. Oh god, it hurt him so much to look at him right now. He looked so broken. Gently, he used his thumbs to wipe away Logan’s tears. Strange, when did he start crying? “I know from experience that obsessing over things you did in the past will only make you fall into bad habits. The last thing I wanna see, is you dealing with the same habits I’m still trying to get out of.” He brushed his bangs behind one of his ears. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry about, I’m not mad at you, and I’m  _ not _ going to make fun of you. I... care about you buddy.” Logan stared at Virgil for a good minute, then he buried his face in his shirt, gripped at his hoodie and let out a muffled; “Tank you ‘irgil.” The side in question sighed softly in relief and stroked the back of Logan’s head. Crisis averted.

Patton smiled to himself as he placed the DVD into the VCR, and grabbed the remote from off the TV stand. Under any other circumstances he would have stepped in and helped the other two sides, but he had glanced over his shoulder just as Virgil pulled Logan into his lap, so he thought he had everything under control. He tuned in to the whole conversation as it transpired, and felt his chest grow warm with pride. Virgil had grown so much since they had accepted him into their group, he didn’t hide away as much, he talked more, and he was learning to come them if he needed help or comfort. The fact that he stepped up to comfort Logan was just so heart-warming, and sweet, and gosh darn it Patton just wanted to go over there and hug both of them! But he kept his urges under control so that the little scene could play out, he didn’t want to interrupt the moment. At the same time though, he felt a little bit of worry and concern bubble up inside of him.

Did Logan really think he was mean? He was insensitive sometimes, yeah, but he normally knew his boundaries and rarely overstepped them, and if he did, he would apologize. Patton filed that away in his mind for later. He finally stood from the ground and made his way over to the couch. He announced his arrival with an enthusiastic little clap. “Alrighty! I just put the movie in, you two want any snacks? There are still cookies on the table!” He gestured to the table before plopping down next to the two. “Nah, I’m full.” Was Virgil’s reply, then he glanced down at Logan. “You want one Lo?” Logan looked over at the cookies, then back to Virgil. He nodded his head shyly. “Uh-huh.” Patton leaned over, and grabbed two cookies from the table, he handed one to Logan. “Tank you…” Patton smiled down at Logan. “No problem! You wanna sit with me, buddy?” He asked. Logan frowned, shifting his gaze to Virgil, who smiled at him too, the back to Patton. “C-Can I stay wif ‘irgil?” He asked hesitantly.

“If you want to buddy, I don’t mind. Do you Verge?” Virgil shrugged, a look of indifference on his face. “I don’t mind either, as long as you feel comfortable Lo.” A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Logan’s mouth as he felt that warm feeling spread across his body again. He turned to face the TV as Patton pressed when the movie menu popped up. He took a bit of the cookie and humming quietly at the sweet taste. The logical side loved Patton’s cookies, even though he had rarely told him, they were just so sweet, soft and warm. Logan glanced at Patton and Virgil out of the corner of his eye. Neither looked upset or cross about the situation, and it didn’t feel like they were doing this just to be kind. They seemed… content. He smiled, he smiled and leaned against Virgil as the movie played. Maybe this wasn’t so bad… maybe everything would be okay?


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the day went by far too quickly for Logan, almost as though it were put on fast forward. By the time the three had finished their movie, it was getting late, and Logan had begun to doze off. He was vaguely aware of Patton lifting him off Virgil’s lap and taking him upstairs to his room, but he did remember tiredly arguing that he didn’t need to be tucked into bed because he wasn’t a child. Yeah, he didn’t really win that debate. Logan awoke the next morning to the sound of his stomach growling loudly. He groaned softly, sat up and stretched, eyes still shut tightly. When he opened his eyes he noticed that some of the objects and furniture looked blurry, mostly objects that were far away from him. He momentarily panicked, thinking something had happened to his eyes, only to remember;  _ ‘Oh right, my glasses…’ _ He leaned over and grabbed his glasses from off his bedside table, which took a lot of struggling and making sure he didn’t fall off his bed. Once he had them on he sighed in relief as his vision returned to normal, then frowned he noticed that he hadn’t returned to his normal age and was still a child. 

When his stomach growled again, Logan pushed his thoughts aside and slipped off his bed, using his blanket to keep himself steady so he wouldn’t fall over. Now came the difficult part,  _ walking. _ Oh, boy this was going to be… something. A determined look crossed Logan’s face as he internally psyched himself up. _ ‘Okay Logan, you can do this. It’s simple. Walking is in human nature. Just put in foot in front of the other, rinse and repeat.’ _ Oh hello smaller, nicer voice, nice to hear you again. Logan followed his own instructions. Left foot, right foot, left, right, that’s right, he was doing it! Just as Logan felt he had got the hang of it, he miscalculated and tripped over his own feet. “Ow!” Okay, that hurt way more than it should have.  _ ‘You’ve hit such a low point that you have re-learn how to walk, a basic human function. How do you expect them to take you seriously when you can’t even perform something everyone knows how to do, Logic?’  _ Logan grimaced at how sharply and venomously the voice said “Logic.” He decided to try and ignore the voice for now, so he pushed himself up and tried to walk again.

This time he managed to make it to his door. Since Patton left it ajar the previous night, he easily pushed it open and peeked outside. He looked down the hallway at Patton’s door. It was open, that meant that he was more than likely downstairs. Logan frowned at the older side’s odd habit. He never did understand why he was so adamant about leaving his door open when he wasn’t inside his room. It was a little improper if you asked him, but he never complained, he didn’t want to hurt Patton’s feelings, he knew that the other was a little sensitive. Logan carefully made his way down the hallway and to the stairs.  _ ‘Stairs… perfect.’  _ This was going to be an…  _ experience. _ Logan walked down the steps as slowly as possible, holding onto the bars of the banister and taking great care in making sure he didn’t trip, which he almost did a few times, and  _ eventually _ made it to the bottom. Now he was starving, and his stomach was growling a little louder than before. A faint aroma hit his nose, and he instantly  recognized the sweet syrupy smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen and couldn’t resist the grin that spread across his face. If there was one thing that never ceased to brighten his spirits, it was Patton’s cooking.

He wasted little time in strolling over to the kitchen, only to stop dead in his tracks when he heard a very,  _ very _ familiar voice coming from inside. “-and that is how I acquired all these potions!” Sounds of what Logan believed to be glass bottles clinked and dinged as they hit each other, followed by Patton chuckling fondly. “Well, I’m glad you had fun, and that you’re back in one piece. I hate having to bandage you up when you get hurt by those dragons and witches.” Yep, definitely Patton. “Aw pàdre, those are just battle scars! Signs of a job well done!”  _ Roman. _ Logan quickly ducked behind the doorframe, fear surging into his body at a rapid pace. No, no, no, no, no, no,  _ no!  _ This is bad,  _ really _ bad. Roman had returned from his latest quest in his realm. Logan’s mind raced to try and figure out what to do and how to get out of this situation. Run and hide? No, he could barely walk, let alone try to run. Hiding was still an option, but where? His room wouldn’t work, Patton would get concerned and come up to make him leave eventually. A closet? No, he was too short to reach any door handles.  _ Ugh! _ Where could he go?!  _ ‘Logically, think logically!’ _ He scolded himself harshly, gripping the sides of his head.

“Logan?” The side in question jumped slightly, a tiny squeak leaving his mouth before he had the chance to silence it. He glanced up to see who the voice belonged to and was met with a concerned looking Virgil standing in front of him. Logan didn’t know what to say, his mind was too busy trying to find a solution to his predicament. The anxious trait knelt down to Logan’s height. “What’s wrong, Lo?” He asked gently, his tone going soft. Logan looked away, his little hands balling into fists.  _ ‘Tell him!’ _ The smaller voice encouraged, but the harsher voice was right behind it. _ ‘Don’t. This is pointless. You’re wasting time being frightened of Roman when you should be figuring out how to become an adult again! You have work to do!’ _ Logan winced, but he ignored the voice again, now was not the time to listen to the negative thoughts. “Ro’s here…” He pointed at the doorway to the kitchen. Virgil followed his finger, then he frowned slightly and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, is something wrong with Roman being here?” Logan suddenly became very interested in the floor, and he nodded his head. “Ro’s gonna make fun-a me…” He mumbled, fiddling with his shirt to try and calm himself down. Oh. Now the anxious side understood. Virgil placed a hand on Logan’s shoulder comfortingly.

“Logan, look at me.” He kept his voice soft and calm, making sure Logan could tell that he wasn't in trouble or was being scolded. Logan did as he was told, tearing his gaze from the floor and staring up at Virgil. “Logan, Roman isn’t gonna make fun of you. We talked about this yesterday, remember?” Logan shook his head aggressively at his statement. “No! You say’d that  _ you’s _ not gonna make fun-a me, not Ro!” He objected, feeling strangely aggravated and scared for some confusing reason. “Lo, Roman’s gone through this same thing. He’s regressed two times before, he knows what it’s like. I promise you Lo, he won’t make fun of you.” Virgil explained, squeezing Logan’s shoulders gently. Then he leaned forward and whispered; “And even if he did, I’d shut ‘em up for ya.” He winked and smirked, making Logan giggle, then cover his mouth in embarrassment when his stomach growled again. “C’mon, let’s head on into the kitchen, you sound hungry. Need me to carry you?” Logan glared at him and crossed his arms, trying to look serious again.

“I can wa’k, how you tink I gots down here!” He squeaked out, making Virgil chuckle. “Okay, okay, let’s go then.” Logan followed behind Virgil as he strolled into the kitchen. The moment they were inside, Logan’s fear increased. Roman was sitting so his back was facing the door, so he didn’t notice the two enter. On the floor next to his chair was a burlap sack, Logan could faintly see some glass bottles filled with liquids of varying colors peaking out of the opening, presumingly the potions Roman was talking about earlier.  Patton, on the other hand, did. He smiled brightly at the two, waving happily from his place at the stove where he was making pancakes. “Good morning Virgil, good morning Logan! How’d you two sleep? Good I hope!” Virgil mumbled a good morning back to the fatherly trait, and shrugged. “Eh, I slept fine.” Patton nodded, throwing out a bubbly; “Good!” before he looked down at Logan. “What about you, Lo? Did you sleep well kiddo?” His voice notably softened, which caused Roman to raise an eyebrow at him in confusion. Logan would’ve snapped at him for calling him a kid, he still had the mind of an adult damn it, had he not been so scared. Instead, he just nodded his head  mutely , eyes trained on Roman, whos back was still turned to him. Patton’s smile disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, he made his way around the table and knelt in front of Logan.

“Lo, are you okay? Is something wrong?” He asked, a concerned expression making it’s way onto his face. Roman finally turned around in his seat, a snarky comment already on the tip of his tongue, ready to be thrown out. “Yes Bill Dry, what has you so silen-.” The rest of his question was lost in confused silence when his eyes fell on Logan. He was tiny, _small._ Silence fell across the kitchen, then Logan and Roman made eye contact. If Logan was afraid before, he was _terrified_ now. _Roman_ was _staring_ at him, his _eyes_ were _on_ him, he could _see_ that he was a _child,_ he could _see_ that he had _regressed._ _‘Hide!’_ Logan’s breathing became shaky and frantic as he attempted to think of a way out of this situation, but nothing would come to mind. He was trapped. _‘Will you cease this pathetic display! Roman and you have fought a copious amount of times, stop acting like this is some sort of big event. It’s illogical to be frightened of something you’ve experienced several times before.’_

“Logan? Logan, buddy why are you crying?” Crying? When did he start crying? Logan hadn’t noticed that his eyes had begun watering, nor did he feel the tears that started sliding down his cheeks, or when his bottom lip started quivering. Roman was staring at him. Roman was  _ staring _ at him.  _ Roman was staring at him! Stop staring!! _ In a panic, Logan flung himself into Patton’s arms, almost out of some sort of impulse, hid his face in the other’s chest, and began to sob and wail in fear. “Woah, Logan! Shh, shh, oh buddy, it’s okay.” Patton quickly wrapped his arms around the smaller shaking side, his voice shifting to his soft concerned dad tone, and his worry spiking. Virgil was beside him in an instant, placing a hand on Logan’s back and trying to aide Patton in comforting the sobbing child as they exchanged concerned looks. Roman snapped out of his surprised trance and quickly stood from his chair. He was so, terribly confused. When did Logan regress? All this time the fanciful side was under the impression that the logical side incapable of regression.

After all, he underwent a lot of stress and tension whilst writing Thomas’ schedules and keeping everything as under control as possible, but he had yet to regress once, even when it seemed like the brain would both literally and figuratively break, so no one could honestly blame him for coming to such a conclusion. Why did Logan look so frightened when he made eye contact with Roman? As far as he had seen, Logan had never shown any signs of fearing him in the past. But above all the biggest question in his head was: Why was Logan crying? Roman had never in his life seen the other side show any other emotion aside from anger and frustration, much less see him cry. It… It kinda broke his heart. Wordlessly, he made his way over to the three sides on the floor and knelt next to Patton. He eyed the boy sympathetically, his  initial shock having faded into genuine concern for his fellow side. The fatherly trait stroked Logan’s head gently, whispering soft comforting words in hopes of sooting him. “Shhh, buddy, I got you, I got you. Everything’s okay, nothing’s wrong, shhh.”

Logan wanted to believe Patton, he really truly did, but he just couldn’t. Nothing was okay! Roman saw him! He  _ saw _ him! He knew! Now he would surely make fun of him, and why would he not? Roman hated him, he had always hated him. The two rarely got along, they fought, they argued, they acted like young, bickering children. With all the things Logan had said to him in the past, why wouldn’t Roman jump at the chance to get payback? But Logan didn’t want to hear it, he didn’t want to hear more reasons why he was a bad person. The harsh voice was already doing enough of that for him.  _ ‘Stop crying, Logic. There is no reason to cry. Need I remind you that you do not feel? You are not meant to feel, nor to cry, you are meant to work diligently and make certain that everything is running smoothly. If Roman makes fun of you ignore it, you do it all the time anyway. Cease blubbering and start figuring out how to return to normal! Thomas’ needs you!’ _ The voice snapped, practically spitting the words out like they were venom on its tongue.

_ ‘He hates me, he hates me! Roman’s never liked me, and now he’s gonna make fun of me! I don’t want him to make fun of me! It hurts… bad.’  _ Logan continued to sob and cry, his hands gripping tightly at Patton’s polo shirt as he attempted to burrow deeper into his chest. He wanted nothing more than to feel safe and secure, to feel like nothing could harm him, and to be away from all the mean words Roman could  passably throw at him. He wanted to stay in Patton’s arms, to be held and comforted and told that he was good and that nothing bad would happen to him, while at the same time he wanted to shove him away because this was all so childish and unprofessional and he was Logic, and he shouldn't be feeling this way! All these conflicting emotions and urges were going to drive him insane! Nothing made sense! It felt like all his logical thought had been torn away from him, and now all he could do was cry and cling to Patton like a child would his father.

Roman watched the scene unfold with uncertainty and honest concern. He wanted to help the other two sides comfort Logan, to reach out and rub his back or whisper some kind words, but he hesitated. The look Logan gave him before this breakdown started… what did it mean? The little guy looked so frightened and scared, as though he had just seen the devil himself rise from the ground and proclaim he was here to steal his soul. Before the two had locked eyes, Logan simply appeared as though he were only a little nervous or shaken up, but afterwards, he started crying and wailing his heart out. That lead Roman to believe that perhaps he had something to do with this. If so, what? What did he do? His mind sprang to the previous times the other sides had regressed, the list of possible outcomes that regression could bring on. Logan had made absolute certain that each of them memorized each possibility that could come with regression based off the observations as to be better prepared for any upcoming problems regression could bring on.

Maybe he just didn’t remember him, it was the first time he had regressed after all. Minutes passed as the Logan continued to cry into Patton’s shirt while he and Virgil did their best to calm him down. Finally, after probably five or so minutes of non-stop crying, his eyes had gone dry as he had no more tears to shed, so he just stayed in Patton’s arms, clenching his shirt tightly his his little hands. He was still trembling like a scared little chihuahua and sniffling, not to mention the hot shame creeping it’s way up his body like some kind of burning hot snake. “Logan, what happened? What made you cry buddy?” Patton prodded softly, worry lacing his voice. Logan said nothing, he just shook his head frantically. Part of him was screaming to tell him, while the other asserted that he was overreacting and needed to stop acting like a child. The fatherly trait exchanged  concerned looks with his fellow sides. Roman decided to speak up finally. “Did… Did I do something wrong? He started crying right after we made eye contact.” He whispered to Virgil, eyeing Logan worriedly.

The anxious side opened his mouth to reply, only to stop when he noticed Logan’s body freeze when Roman spoke. That’s when it clicked. Oh. “I think I know what’s going on.” Virgil started, locking eyes with Patton when he raised an eyebrow at him. “He’s still scared that Princey’s going to make fun of him.” Roman’s eyes widened slightly, and he blinked several times. That was  _ not _ what he was expecting, not by a long shot. Where did the little guy even get that idea? And did Virgil say  _ still? _ That implies that they’ve spoken about this before! What the heck happened while he was on his quest yesterday!? Patton looked back down at Logan sympathetically. “Logan… look at me.” Logan shook his head again, accompanied by a loud; “No!” that was muffled a bit by Patton’s shirt. “Dun wan’ Ro to see me!” Roman had to bite back the urge to say; “I can see you right now.” Instead, his gaze shifted between the three. For the first time in his life, Roman Sanders was rendered speechless, something he never even thought possible.

Logan was scared of him making fun of him? Well… he  _ was _ a child now, but if he retained his memories of being an adult, which Roman assumed he had, why would he be acting like this? Maybe he was just a bit more sensitive? It wasn’t impossible. But even then this whole situation was more than a little disheartening. The idea of someone being scared of him was something the fanciful side had yet to experience, well, except for from the monsters he fights in his realm, but that was a different situation entirely. The two had indeed had their fair share of arguments and disagreements, more so than the other sides that’s for sure, but enough for Logan to be scared of him? That’s something Roman had never seen coming. Now all he wanted to do was say…  _ something! _ Anything! But any words that he managed to think of died off the moment they reached his mouth. He and Logan’s relationship was…  _ rocky,  _ to say the least. Even more so than he and Virgil’s, but he was slowly picking up the pieces of their wounded relationship and making progress, even if he still had a little ways to go.

However, the logical side and the creative side never really saw eye to eye. They fought so often that they just tried to avoid speaking to one another most of the time. And Roman would admit, they had both said some things that neither of them truly meant, and  _ maybe _ he had gone a little too far on the teasing, the joking  and the name calling here and there, and  _ maybe _ he could’ve worded things a little better that one time, okay you know what, he was starting to see why Logan was afraid of him. He could be… kind of a jerk. Maybe that’s why Logan avoided him so much when Roman had regressed. Then again, he could just be overthinking this and Logan might just be a sensitive child. “Logan, Roman’s not gonna make fun of you, remember? He’s regressed before too, and you never made fun of him for it, so why would he make fun of you?” Patton tried to reason, while Virgil rubbed his back to keep him somewhat calm.

Logan just continued to remain silent, not moving his head from where he had it hidden in the moral side’s shirt. Roman couldn’t sit back and watch this any longer! This was becoming far too painful and upsetting for the creative side to bear. He reached out a hand and gently placed it on the logical side’s shoulder. “Logan, If I have upset you, I apologize. That was not my intention, and I want you to know that, under no circumstances, will I be making fun of you for regressing. Like Patton said, I’ve regressed before, and you never said a foul thing about it, so who am I to make fun of you for doing the same?” He declared, his normal dramatic flare having been traded out for a softer and more mellow tone, quite the unusual thing to hear if you knew Roman well enough. There was a beat of silence, and for a moment Roman panicked, thinking he’d said something wrong or hadn’t said enough. Then, Logan slowly lifted his head and looked over at the creative side. Jesus, seeing Logan’s face physically hurt, and the idea that he possibly caused it hurt even worse.

Logan studied Roman’s face, looking for any sign of deception and/or scorn before finally speaking up. “Y-You pwomise?” He asked quietly, sniffling a bit and pushing up his glasses to rub his eyes and cheeks. Roman nodded, plastering a smile on his face and raising a hand. “I, Roman Sanders, promise to you, Logan Sanders, that I shall not make any sort of rude, scorning or degrading remarks whilst you are in your regressed state, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye!” Roman did a crossing gesture with his hand, then pretended to poke his eye. “Though I cannot promise not to do a smidgen of playful teasing.” He joked, his usual dramatic flare returning with full force. Logan raised an eyebrow at Roman’s choice in words and tilted his head. “M’ not stickin’ a needle in yous eye. That’d make you bwind, and it’d ‘urt.” He stated, dead serious. The other three sides began laughing at his remark, making him more confused as he looked between the three. “It’s just a saying, Logan.” Virgil piped up, covering his mouth with his hand and stickering a little.

“Still the same old Logan! Always taking things a little too literally.” Patton mused, ruffling Logan’s hair, causing him to whine and try to push his hands away before glaring at him. “And still as adorable as he is as an adult.” Logan’s eyes widened, his irritated glare disappearing and being replaced with flustered shock, then he ducked his head back into Patton’s shirt, letting out a tiny embarrassed and whiny; “Nooooo…” which was muffled by said shirt. “What’s wrong, little buddy?” The fatherly trait questioned, raising an eyebrow at the little side’s behavior. Logan glared up at Patton again, his tiny face flushed a light red. “M’  _ not _ wittle an’ m’  _ not _ ‘dorable.” He mumbled irritably. Patton couldn’t help but chuckle and grin at Logan’s little face. He was just so blushy and flustered looking, it was so cute! “You’re wrong there, kiddo! You are absolutely, one-hundred percent, adorable!” He chirped, shifting Logan in his arms so that he was holding him as he continued to argue his case. “C’mon, let’s get to eating breakfast before it gets cold.” He stood from the floor, smiling when Logan grumbled and crossed his little arms in flustered annoyance.

Roman and Virgil followed suit, standing from the floor and taking their respective places at the table. Patton sat Logan in his normal seat, which was the chair closest to his so win-win, and returned to his former place at the stove. Logan continued to pout, glaring the table, which he could just barely peak over due to his short height, and mumbling angrily to himself. Roman chuckled at the smaller side’s little pouty face, something about seeing Mr. Stoic and serious huffing like a little child was quite the amusing sight. “Here Pouty McFrowny Face,” He snapped his fingers, making a soft pillow appear under Logan on the chair, elevating him up a little higher. “now you can see over the table better.” Logan’s pout turned into a frown, and he squirmed a bit to get comfortable, then mumbled a tiny; “Tanks Ro…” that was barely audible. “You’re quite welcome, adorable little Professor. We can’t have you pouting all day, now can we?” Logan shot a glare at him, face flushing again.

“M’  _ not _ ‘dorable Ro.” He hissed, puffing his cheeks when Roman and Virgil continued chucking at him. “Oh contraire little prince, you are  _ quite _ the adorable little child. Just look at your cute little blushing face!” Roman cooed, snickering when Logan crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at him.  _ “Fawsehood. _ I’s not a pwince an’ m’ not ‘dorable, I’s so-fist-to-cat-id an’ wogicaw.” He asserted, smirking proudly at his use of larger words even with his limited toddler dialect. Sure, they sounded less sophisticated coming from a  four-year-old’s  mouth, especially considering he couldn’t pronounce most of them right, but hey, it was something. Patton was the one to hop in next, a bright smile adorning his lips as he continued working on breakfast, flipping the pancakes in the air and catching them in the pan with the ease of an experienced baker. “Who says you’re not a prince? Anyone can be a prince, little buddy! And I don’t think you’re gonna win this argument Kiddo, you’re extremely adorable! With your little tie and your big glasses, you’d have to be crazy not to think you’re at least a little cute!”

_ “Fawsehood. _ You can’t be a pwince ‘less you mawwy woyawty! It called a m-mon-ark-e! An’ I’s  _ not _ cute an’ I’s  _ not _ wittle! I’s sewious!” Logan corrected sharply, the little “Falsehood” coming out as a bit of a growl this time. By now the logical side’s face was blushing bright red, but he still tried to look dignified and serious by putting on his ‘serious face’, though it wasn’t really helping his case. Finally, Virgil broke his silence and threw his two cents into the conversation. “Considering what happened last night, I gotta agree. Lo, you’re adorable, especially when you’re sleeping.” Roman looked at him curiously. “What happened last night?” The creative side asked. “He fell asleep curled up in my lap while we were watching a movie, Dad had to carry him up to his room.” Roman let out a little “Awww!” And that was the last straw. Logan banged a tiny fist on the table in frustration.  **_“Fawsehood!!”_ ** He squeaked loudly, pointing  accusingly at Virgil. There was a short pregnant silence as the three sides just stared a the tiny angry logical side.

Then several things happened all at once. Virgil began cackling, throwing his head back as his body shook with intense laughter. A jubilant noise was pulled from Roman’s throat before he too succumbed to joyful laughter, covering his mouth with a hand in a fruitless attempt to muffle the sounds. “Ahhhh! That was so _ cute!!”  _ Patton squealed, leaving the stove again so he could wrap his arms around Logan, and cuddle the blushing little child. He nuzzled his hair, giggling when Logan whined in embarrassment. The logical side’s face couldn’t get any redder, even his ears had taken on a red tint, and he was left as nothing more than a tiny flustered mess.  _ “M’ not cute…”  _ He mumbled quietly, pouting. “Aw, hey now, don’t give us that bottom lip Logan! You’re cute, and you know it!” Patton beamed, pressing a quick little kiss to Logan’s forehead. “Damn it, that was the most adorable thing ever, and I’m pissed I wasn’t recording it.” Virgil chided himself jokingly, having recovered from his laughing fit. “Hey, Language.” Patton scolded, giving Virgil a warning look, which only resulted in getting a shrug and a smirk.

“Awww, someone’s blushing~! Look at how red his tiny face is, he’s like a tiny flustered tomato!” Roman pointed out, a playful smile spread across his face. Logan groaned and tried to hide his face in his little hands. This was all too embarrassing! He wasn’t cute, or adorable! If they kept this up, his face was going to erupt into flames! Heck, he already felt like he was on fire! “Alright kiddos, that’s enough teasing. We don’t wanna make Logan uncomfortable.” Patton advised, ruffling Logan’s hair again, earning a tiny glare from the flustered logical side. The other two sides conceded, Virgil pulling out his phone to scroll through Tumblr, and Roman going back to examining the potions he’d acquired from his quest, attempting to decipher what type of elixirs the glass bottles held. Logan shrunk down in his chair, silently wishing that the world would just crack open and swallow him up so he could escape this whole situation. That was so embarrassing. Now all he wanted was to run upstairs to his room so he could hide under his covers and try to stop the flames igniting his face and cheeks.

 

 

* * *

 

Breakfast went by quickly. The moment Logan had gotten his pancakes and milk he had practically scarfed them down like a wild animal, much to the amusement of Roman, Virgil, and Patton. Once everyone else was done eating, and everyone had put away their dishes, they all went off to do their own thing. Roman and Virgil slinked off to their respective rooms, the creative side saying that he needed to label these potions and put them someplace safe, while the anxious side just mumbled something about wanting an hour or so to himself. So that left Logan and Patton. Part of Logan wanted to go up to his room so he could sneakily try to work on Thomas’ schedule again, but the other half of him, the more vocal half, kept him glued to Patton’s side. When Patton had finished washing the dirty dishes, he turned to Logan, smiled at him and asked him what he wanted to do. The logical side thought for a bit, then shyly asked if Patton could get him one of his books from his room so he could read.

Logan loved to read, it calmed him and cleared his mind while also allowing him to possibly learn something new, especially when he was having a particularly bad day. That’s what lead him to where he was now, sitting on the ground in the living room, large book laid out in his lap, and squinting his eyes to try and make out what half of the words on the pages said. The book was about the same size as his body, and it was heavy. It was a simple anatomy book, one that he had read well over ten times by now, but for some reason, he couldn’t understand a lick of what was printed on these pages. All the sentences looked less like actual words, more like someone had taken a bunch of letters and jumbled them up in a blender before throwing them on the pages in a vague hope that they would form coherent words, and it was driving Logan insane! He had read this book so many freaking times, so many times, and yet, he couldn’t understand a single thing that he was looking at. He could make out a few smaller words, like “A” and “The” and some numbers, but that wasn’t much.

Nothing made sense! Logan squinted his eyes, thinking that maybe it would make his vision better or something, like his eyes would just clear up and everything would just click, but all it did was make him more annoyed. Everything he previously understood, now made no logical sense. He silently attempted to sound the words out, occasionally sounding out loud softly, and becoming angry when all that came out was just more nonsense. After around twenty minutes of this Logan finally became fed up, so he let out a frustrated groan and straight up chucked the book as far as he could, which wasn’t very far at all due to his limited strength. He curled his legs into his chest, crossed his arms over his knees and buried his face in them. He hated this. He hated that he couldn’t understand the things he could before regressing. It made him feel useless. He was supposed to be the brain! Now he could barely read any words with more than four letters. What was the point in being logic if he couldn’t even read?!

Patton’s head snapped up from his phone, which he had absentmindedly been checking when he heard the loud thump of the book hitting the floor. His eyes fell on the book for a moment, then shifted to the curled up Logan. Patton felt sympathy bubble up inside him, and immediately he stood from the couch, made his way over to Logan and knelt next to him. “Logan, why did you throw your book?” He asked softly. The brian curled in on himself a little more, trying to become as small as currently felt. “I can’t ‘ead.” Was his grumpy response, obviously holding back some pent-up frustration. “Well, of course, you can’t read books like that, you’re too little!” Patton explained, trying to keep an air of optimism in his tone as to not damper the child’s mood further. Logan would’ve glared at him, but he felt far too distressed and sad to even try, so he just kept his head down, wanting to hide his face from the world. Patton sensed the younger one’s discomfort, so he took a seat next to him and opened his arms as a welcoming gesture. “Wanna talk about it?” Logan sniffled and lifted his head. When did he start crying? The second he saw that Patton was offering him a hug, Logan uncurled himself from the ball he had put himself in, crawled into his lap and nestled himself into his inviting arms.

“There you are, Logan.” Patton soothed, wrapping his arms around the smaller side, enveloping him in a sense of warmth and care, something Logan so rarely let himself experience that once he felt it, he never wanted it to stop. He let his head fall against Patton’s chest, and he sighed shakily, shutting his eyes and letting the mini tears fall silently. “Now, you wanna tell me what’s got you so riled up? I can tell it’s not just about you not being able to read.” The moral trait asked, his voice full of love and fatherly affection. Logan kept his eyes off of Morality, choosing instead to shrink down and attempt to suck up as much of the warmth as he could while it lasted. Of course, Patton would see through him and figure out that something was wrong. He wanted to tell him, he  _ needed _ to tell him, but he was afraid, afraid of sounding silly or irrational. The smaller voice was becoming louder now, urging and begging him to tell the older side, surpassing the harsher voice’s cold words momentarily. So Logan hesitated, not wanting to take any risks. “Logan, I’m not going to force you to tell me anything, but I want you to know that you can trust me. I care about you Lo, and I hate seeing you upset.”

The logical side stared at him for a few seconds, then he sniffled again, a few more tears slipping from his eyes and making their way down his cheeks. “I-I…” He started, then his throat tighten, ripping a frustrated sob from him. “I hate ‘dis Patt!” He cried, throwing his head back and continuing to rant and vent his frustrations. “I no unda-stand anyting ‘nymore! Eveyting’s confusin’ and wong! I can’t ‘ead, I can’t say nothin’ wite, I can’t tink wite, and I can’t ‘top cwin’! I’s not smawt no mowe, I’s stupid!” He shouted, anger, distress and frustration all mixing together, making the tiny side overwhelmed with raw, unfiltered emotion. “I need-a be workin’, Tom-iss needs me… I dun wan ‘em to be mad at me.” He whispered that sentence so brokenly that it  honestly tore Morality’s heart to shreds. Patton’s fatherly instincts kicked in again, and he brought Logan closer, cradling the back of his head and rocking him slowly. “Now,” Patton started, gently running his fingers through his soft, messy brown hair. “First off Logan, you’re not stupid. You’ve never been stupid, and none of us think you’re stupid. You’re just little now, and I know you hate me saying that, but it’s true.”

“You’re four now, and going to be four for, at the very least, the rest of the day. Four-year-olds can’t read large, thousand-page textbooks like adults can. It’s not your fault and it doesn't make you stupid, or less intelligent, or anything you might be thinking. This is something you can’t control, it’s just something that comes with regression. So you can get rid of that idea right now.” He explained in a soft, yet firm tone, quite similar to the one he would use when he caught Virgil bad talking himself or Roman going through heavy writer's block, then he continued. “And secondly, Thomas isn’t going to be mad at you for regressing. He’s never been mad at me, Virgil or Roman for regressing, so I highly doubt he’ll get mad at you. He’s just going to be acting a little silly for a few days, you’ve done no harm.” He moved his hand from Logan’s head to one of his hands, which he took into his own and gently ran his thumb across his wrist as a comforting gesture. Logan found himself mulling over Patton’s words in his head, contemplating what he had said and what it all meant.

When everything clicked he rubbed his eyes with his free hand and smiled a bit. Patton was just so…  _ nice. _ He cared so much about everybody, and never ceased to make even the most stoic of people crack a smile. “‘Tanks Patt…” Logan thanked him, allowing himself to bask in the comfort and care that Patton’s embrace provided, cuddling a little closer to his chest. “Anytime buddy.” Patton hummed, nuzzling the top of Logan’s head lovingly. A devious idea crossed the moral side’s mind, and he grinned mischievously down at Logan. “Hey Lo, I know something that can cheer up a certain little professor!” Logan ignored the blush that spread on his face at that little nickname and raised an eyebrow at Patton, tilting his head. “What?” Patton held up his hands in front of Logan and wiggled his fingers. “Tickles!!” Logan had no time to react, because seconds later Patton attacked his sides, making him burst into laughter. “Ahahahahahaha!! Nohohohohohooo Pahahahahttt!!” He shouted, flailing his arms about in an attempt to push Patton’s hands away.

However, that didn’t slow Patton at all, he continued to skitter his fingers across Logan’s sides, revealing in the joyous sounds coming from the logical side’s mouth. “Yes, Patt! Very much yes! You sound so cute, Logan!” Patton’s grin grew, as he squeezed Logan’s sides, making him practically shriek with laughter as he continued to squirm around in the man’s lap. “Nehehehehehehe!! Pahahahahttt!! Mmmmm’ nahahahahahattt cuuuuttteee!!” Logan weakly tried to pry Patton’s hands from his sides, but he was too overcome by the sensations to give a full attempt. Patton’s hands then shot under Logan’s arms, scratching lightly at his underarms. The logical side immediately tried to clamp them down, but that didn’t stop Patton either. “Ahahahahahahaha!! Nuhohohohohoho!!” By now Patton was laughing along with Logan, the younger one’s laughter proving to be very contagious. “Your laughter is so adorable, Logan! It’s all squeaky!”

Logan’s eyes had begun to leek with happy tears as the attack continued, sorrow and hurt now forgotten and replaced with warmth and happiness. “Nohohohohoho mohohohohorreeee, Pahahahahattt!!” Patton noticed the tears beginning to make their way down Logan’s face, and he stopped his assault. Gently lifting Logan to his face, he grinned at him. “Just one more spot Lo, then I’ll be done.” He sang, before blowing a giant raspberry onto his stomach, causing Logan to shriek again, then he lowered him back down to his lap where he promptly went limp in order to catch his breath. Logan was nothing more than a blushing mess of laughter and shaky breathing. Morality ran a hand down Logan’s back as the phantom tickles died down, and he just let out tiny giggles. Patton couldn’t help but coo softly at just how adorable Logan looked right now. His face was scrunched up as he tried to suppress his giggles while he hugged his sides, glasses askew, all blushy and genuinely happy looking. Such a rare sight to see on the normally stoic brain.

Ahhhhh, he was just so  _ cute!! _ Just as Logan had fully caught his breath and had sat up in Patton’s lap, a familiar voice called out to both of them, catching them both off guard.  _ Patton? Logan?  _ The two didn’t really have time to react because seconds later the two had sunk through the floor and sunk up into Thomas’ living room. Logan blinked a few times. He was no longer in Patton’s lap, instead, he was in his normal spot next to the stairway. Patton too was in his usual spot in front of the windows. Their host was standing in his place in front of his couch, brows furrowed in confusion and worry as he stared off into space, arms crossed over his chest, not even noticing that the two had been summoned. Oh boy, there was that fear again! Logan shrank back reflexively, torn between sprinting over to Patton’s spot so he could feel safe again, or trying to sink out back to the Mindscape to avoid the confrontation that would come from speaking with his host in this state, but he was completely frozen in place, unable to move, his fear turning him to a petrified little statue.

Finally, Thomas came back to earth when Patton cleared his throat and tentatively asked the brunette if he was alright. “Huh? Oh, you’re here! Thank  _ god, _ I was getting worried!” He exclaimed, turning to face Patton fully. Patton raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that kiddo?” He questioned. “Well, I’ve been trying to summon you guys for a good few minutes, but, for some reason, my mind kept wandering and zoning out, and I couldn’t focus! I haven’t been thinking straight since yesterday!” A tiny smile appeared on Patton’s face. “Well, of course, you’re not thinking straight Thomas, you aren’t straight!” He jested, grinning like a dork when Thomas chuckled softly. “Good one Patt, but I’m really worried about this. We need to figure out what’s making me lose my train of thought.” Thomas started, only to cut himself off with a snort when Patton interjected with; “It must’ve went off the rails.” and then he wiggled his eyebrows jokingly.

“Well Thomas, I’m pretty sure I know what the cause of your dilemma is.” The fatherly trait  gestured to Logan’s spot, then he frowned when he saw just how sacred Logan appeared to be. Thomas followed Patton’s gaze and blinked a good five times when his eyes landed on the,  _ much smaller, _ Logan. A few seconds of unnerving silence passed, then Thomas let out a rather drawn out; “Ooooooohhhh.” before pointing at Logan and saying; “That actually explains a lot of things.” Logan’s eyes darted between Thomas and Patton, his stomach doing giant flips. He impulsively raised his arms up and made grabby-hands at Patton, silently pleading with him to pick him up and keep him safe. Patton wasted no time in making his way over to the logical side and picking him up, balancing him on his hip carefully. Within seconds, the fear faded away, warmth and safety taking its place. “You okay, Bud?” Thomas walked over and stood by Patton’s side, peeking at his tiny logical side with intrigue.

“Am now…” He mumbled, sighing as he allowed himself to grip the front of Patton’s shirt. Patton released a breath that he didn’t even know he had been holding, relieve washing over him. He was expecting Logan to start crying again. Just then, Thomas got caught in Logan’s line of sight, and the logical side quickly ducked his head into Patton’s shoulder. Thomas frowned, giving Patton a confused look. “Is he shy?” He whispered, wondering if he had done something wrong. Patton chuckled a bit, then smiled. “A little.” He winked, then turned his attention back to the small, shy being in his arms. “C’mon Lo, don’t you wanna show Thomas your adorable little face?” He cooed, laughing fondly when Logan lifted his head and glared at him, his face bright red once again. “We’s not stawting dis’ a’gain, Patt.” He huffed, earning himself laughter from the two other males, which made his ears to burn up. “Alright, alright, I won’t start teasing you again, you cute little thing you.” Patton conceded, booping his nose which got him a confused look from the small side.

“Awww, Logan your voice is so cute! It’s all high-pitched and squeaky!” Thomas gushed, a grin spreading across his face. Logan’s cheeks practically burst into flames and he groaned, hiding his face in his hands. Thomas chuckled, tousling Logan’s hair, getting a glare from the tiny side through his fingers. “I guess this explains why I haven’t been thinking very clearly, and why I’ve been getting so easily distracted.” Thomas pondered aloud. Logan pulled his hands away when he heard that, a guilty expression replacing his previous embarrassed one. “M’ sowwy…” He mumbled softly, no longer looking at Thomas and instead, looking at the ground. “Aww Logan, it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have seen this coming.” Thomas consoled, flashing Logan a smile to prove that he wasn’t upset with him. Logan, on the other hand, wasn’t convinced, he wasted no time in pointing his wrong doings. “B-But you no tinkin’ cuz-a me! I’s why you’s wike ‘dis.” He argued adamantly.

“Yeah, and I’ve been scared of the dark and monsters when Virgil regressed, I became reckless and impulsive when Roman regressed, and I acted more childish and emotional when Patton regressed. I can take being a little air headed for a few days, Logan. It’s not the worst thing that’s happened to me.” Thomas listed, putting up a finger for each of these events before sticking his hands in his pockets and continuing. “I don’t blame you for any of this. It’s just something that happened. So, don’t feel bad about it, there’s no harm done.” The brunette finished, in a way echoing what Patton had said earlier. Logan relaxed slightly, a small weight having been lifted off his shoulders. He was still a tad bit worried for his host, yes, but Thomas wasn’t disappointed in him, and that was a little comforting. Thomas meant the world to the sides, because without him, they didn’t exist, so they were all wholly devoted to giving him a good life and helping him with his dilemmas.

That made his disappointment hurt worse than anything else. The simple idea of upsetting Thomas or hurting him absolutely crippled them,  _ especially _ Logan. Logan represented Thomas’ logic, his reasoning, and his brain, something a human fundamentally could not function without. Without him, Thomas wouldn’t be able to make rational decisions, or make decisions at all for that matter, he wouldn’t be able to plan out events or ideas, he definitely wouldn’t be able to retain any sort of information, and that was just some of the major things, there were still smaller things that would snowball with Logan’s absence. So Logan put Thomas before himself most of the time, he cared for his host’s safety and life, and besides, the logical side could handle a bit of strain from time to time. Anything to avoid the mere idea of failing. Because Logan  _ hated _ to fail, he hated the bitter feelings it caused, he hated how failing made others react, and he hated the disappointment that came from it. He  _ hated _ everything about failing.

“See Lo, I told you he wouldn’t be mad!” Patton whisper-yelled, making Logan roll his eyes. Patton really needed to learn what an inside voice was, and how to effectively use it. The two expected Thomas to inquire on what the moral side had meant by that statement, but when they looked up at him, he was staring off into space again. Patton snapped his fingers in front of his blank face, and Thomas snapped back to reality with a shake of his head. “Wha- huh? What’d ya say?” Patton stared at him skeptically, raising an eyebrow at him. “Are you sure you’re gonna be okay? I can send up Virgil to check in on you if you want.” Thomas shook his head, chuckling lightly. “No, I’m fine, just zoned out again, you don’t need to send anyone Patton.” The fatherly trait narrowed his eyes suspiciously, searching for any sign that Thomas was lying. “Okaaaayyy, if you say so kiddo, but just know that me and the others are here if you need us. All you need to do is call!”

“I know, thanks, Patton.” Thomas laughed, shaking his head fondly at the moral traits concern. “Well, I think we’re gonna sink out now. Gotta keep an eye on this little guy.” The two adults laughed when Logan sharply muttered;  _ “Shut up!”  _ before they exchanged their goodbyes, and the two sides sank down. “See Lo, that wasn’t so bad now was it?” Patton asked as the two sank up into the Mindscape. Logan shrugged, resting his head the older side’s shoulder and yawning softly. “Tired, buddy?” Logan nodded  mutely , fighting to keep his eyes open. Talking to Thomas must’ve taken a lot out of him, which was strange because Logan didn’t get tired very easily. “Why don’t we put you down for a nap, buddy?” Patton wasn’t really asking a question. Logan needed a nap. Still, the logical side tried to argue. “Dun need a nap… m’ not-a baby.” He mumbled tiredly, grabbing a fist full of Patton’s shirt, and nuzzling himself into his cat hoodie. The last thing he heard before his eyes slipped shut and sleep took hold of his tiny body was Patton’s chuckling and his footsteps as he walked up the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for taking so long to update this fic, but I'm back! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The previous day had gone by a lot slower than the last, not to the point where it was boring or unending, but enough to where it was obviously noticeable. It was a tad uneventful, aside from Logan and Roman getting sent to timeout, yes, both of them, by Patton after the two got into a minor argument over a cartoon. _Ugh,_ Logan was never going to hear the end of that when he returns to his normal age, especially since Virgil wouldn’t stop laughing until Patton threatened to send him to timeout too since he thought it was so funny, which promptly shut him up. Other than that, nothing really happened, Logan spent most of the day glued to Patton’s hip while the two watched cartoons, Patton’s choice, and animal documentaries, Logan’s choice, to pass the time and bond a tad.

He had begun to notice just how… _clingy_ he had become with Patton. At one point, the fatherly trait got up to use the bathroom, and immediately Logan felt panic and dread fill his body as he watched the older sidewalk up the stairs and out of his sight. A whimper had been torn from his throat before he had the chance to stop it and he decided to latch onto Virgil, who had migrated back downstairs for the time being, in an attempt to regain that feeling of safety and loving care that Patton provided him.

The moment Patton had returned, Logan detached himself from the anxious side and was back in his lap in mere seconds, care and safety returning to him in an instant, making the young man sigh in relief. Logan had no clue as to what the cause of this urge was, but he was sure of one thing, this was no longer a _need,_ it was a _requirement._ Being around Patton calmed him, kept him subdued and relaxed. He made him feel safe, loved and cared for. That warm feeling he got from being wrapped up in his arms, the one that made his heart lighter, his mind clearer, and his body tingly and cozy, had become addicting, like an unknown drug Logan had never heard of.

But it was a good kind of drug, one that Logan never wanted to stop using, even if the harsh voice in the back of his head kept insisting that he stop. Being away from Patton made Logan feel a lot smaller. He felt more panicked, scared, frightened, and much more vulnerable, like at any moment something horrid would happen to him.

So Logan stayed by Patton’s side as much as he could, only really letting the man leave to use the bathroom or to cook. Not that he really minded anyway, Patton just let the little guy do what he felt he needed to. Patton’s own experiences with regression were akin to how Logan was acting. When Patton was regressed, he became a little clingy to each of the sides, he had no particular favorite, he just loved being around them so much that them leaving physically hurt the poor little thing. Patton was quite the emotional child when regressed, which made sense seeing as he was Morality and was very heavily tied to Thomas’ emotions, so the side he was clinging to at the moment would just have to make do with having a child permanently stuck to their hip for a little while before he would evidently move on to the next.

Virgil and Roman were the same way. When Virgil regressed, Patton would become primary caretaker for the little anxious boy. Virgil had latched onto Patton as soon as the moral side found him the first time the other sides discovered about regression, and since then it had become an impossibility to separate the fatherly trait from him, not that Patton tried to anyway, he loved having tiny Virgil around.

Virgil had even become more comfortable calling Patton “Dad”, and at some point taking to calling Logan “Mama” which he adamantly denies ever doing, due to his desire to be near him at all times, so much so that it bled over to when he was an adult. Roman, on the other hand, had taken to Virgil, of all sides, as his go-to person when he had regressed and needed someone to follow around. Roman had only regressed twice, but both times he had taken to becoming Virge’s little shadow, following him around wherever he went, like a duckling would its mother, and playing make-believe with him or coloring while he watched.

It was honestly one of the sweetest things Patton had ever seen, and it helped the two mend some of the holes in their relationship. These experiences led Patton to believe that he had just become the one Logan latched onto as his go-to side, so he allowed the little one to be around him as much as he needed, not wanting to push the child away under any circumstances. He cared far too much for him to even attempt something like that. Soon night had fallen in the Mindscape, this time little Logan had managed to stay awake through their last movie, and Patton announced that it was time for the tiny logical side to head off to bed.

Of course, Logan tried to argue that; _“It too eawwy to go bed!”_ and _“It not even nine, it eiwht!”_ and _“I’s not tired!”_ being very adamant on asserting that he _wasn’t_ a child and he absolutely _didn’t_ need to be put to bed this early, but his claims fell on deaf ears, and so, Logan found himself being tucked into bed at eight-fifteen. Patton had been nice though, trying to make the experience as unembarrassing as he could, and he read him a bedtime story, which didn’t really help with minimizing the embarrassment factor. Pretty soon, the logical side had felt himself drift off as sleep overcame his oddly tired body while he listened to Patton’s tales of talking animals and grand adventures.

* * *

 

Logan awoke with a start, head popping up from his pillow as he gasped sharply, clenching his blanket tightly in his fists. It took him a minute to realize that he was in his room and note that he had been asleep, but even then, he didn't calm down one bit. His breathing was rapid and heavy, coming out in short bursts and his body began to shake and shutter. _Nightmare,_ he had had a nightmare. It wasn’t even a particularly scary nightmare, more eerie than anything really. But it had managed to leave him _terrified._ The whole thing replayed in his mind, like a videotape he could rewind. It had started out with him in some large, pitch black room, no sound, nothing.

Already setting the mood for what was to come. He was still a child, apparently not even able to escape regression even in his dreams. He began walking, occasionally calling out into the darkness to see if anyone was there. He wanted to hear a voice, anyone’s voice, because it was far to quiet for him to feel comfortable or at ease. Then, off in the distance, he saw... himself. Adult him, just standing there, unmoving, as though he were frozen in place or some kind of mannequin. Logan approached him, and once he was close, adult him turned around sudden and fast. He glared at him. The first thing Logan noticed about him was that he couldn’t see his eyes, instead, all he could see were his glasses, which seemed to be glowing an unsettling bright white. The other thing he noticed was the frightening dark blue aura surrounding him, like a humongous blue cloud encircling his being, that made him appear much more predatory and intimidating.

Without warning, he started yelling and snapping at him, his words cutting like scolding hot knives into his mind as he recited everything Logan had done wrong since this whole fiasco began. _‘Pathetic, childish, unprofessional! You’ve made absolutely no effort to try and find a way to return to being an adult! All you’ve done is allow yourself to be coddled and babied by Morality, Anxiety, and Creativity! You’ve wasted so much time, and Thomas is going to suffer because of it!’_ His voice hissed darkly, glasses flashing brighter as he neared the smaller side, Logan shrinking back in fear.

The voice continued, not missing a beat or giving Logan time to recover. _‘You’ve spent too much of your time crying, allowing these pointless emotions to cloud your thought and distract you from what you are meant to do, that you've been reduced to nothing more than a puny, pitiable child!’_ He spat, the dark aura growing larger and more fierce, like a raging storm that accompanies a devastating hurricane. If Logan looked close enough, he could almost make out tiny arm-like shapes in the fog. _‘If this is to continue, you’re going to end up letting everyone down, you’re going to disappoint them, you’re going to disappoint Thomas.’_

The voice inched closer to him, leaning over so that he was face to face with Logan. The raging aura now closing around the logical side, clouding his vision like a deep, dark fog, all he could make out of the adult him was the eerie glow of his glasses against the darkness. Suddenly, something took hold of his arms and legs, keeping him pinned in place. He didn’t know what had grabbed him, and he was too petrified to look down and see, afraid of what he might find. He wanted to fight back, to argue with the voice that this was incorrect and that he was doing nothing wrong, but he couldn’t speak, it was as though someone had ripped his voice away from his throat, leaving him mute and gaping like a fish out of water.

 _‘Is that what you want? Because it certainly seems like it. You are failing, Logic. You’re failing Morality, you’re failing Anxiety, you’re failing Creativity, you’re failing yourself, and most importantly, you’re failing Thomas. Your host is an airheaded dunce because. of._ **_you.’_ ** The voice snarled, barking each word with an increasingly angrier edge, striking Logan in the heart with each passing word. Then, he stood up straight and took a step back, staring down at the smaller side intensely, and Logan was sure that if he had eyes, they would be narrowed.

 _‘You are losing sight of what your purpose is,_ **_Logic._ ** _Your purpose is not to feel nor to be childish, your purpose is to think, to keep everything in order and to make certain that everything functions as it should. If you continue to diverge from your set path, it will only be a matter of time before everything crumbles around you and the other sides abandon you.’_ The voice was almost emotionless now, no anger, no spite, nothing, just blank. Without warning, the aura tinned out around adult Logan but still remained strong around tiny Logan, revealing the figures of Patton, Virgil, Thomas, and Roman. None of them looked particularly happy.

Logan finally managed to find his voice and called out to the four excitedly. “Patt! Ro! ‘Irgil! Tom!” He expected the four to come to him, comfort him, chase away the blackness and make everything okay, what he didn’t expect, was for the four to sneer and glare at him as though he had done something wrong, and he definitely didn't expect the harsh words they started falling from their mouths like acid . “Rude, insensitive, callous, remind me why we keep him around again?” _Roman._ “Because he has a job, but he can’t even do that right.” _Virgil._ “If he can’t do what he was made to do, then I think it’s best we _leave him here.”_ _Patton._

Without another word, the three sides turned around and began walking away, leaving Logan behind. Logan felt whatever had its hold on him release, and he sprinted after them quickly, only to crash headfirst into some sort of barrier, falling to the ground momentarily. He let out a pained gasp and quickly got to his feet again, ignoring the phantom pains blossoming around his body. He banged his fists on the invisible wall, crying out for the three to come back to him. “Patt!! Ro!! ‘irgil! Come back!! Dun’ weave me ‘wone! _W’et me come wiff you!!”_ Logan sank to his knees, tearing up as he watched the three walk off, and then disappear into the distance without any acknowledgment that he was even there.

Meanwhile, Thomas simply stood there, unmoving, watching Logan with narrow eyes. Logan didn’t have to look deep to see the emotions in his host’s eyes, and he flinched when he saw them. _Thomas was disappointed._ Logan stared up at him, tears sliding down his face and fear in his eyes. “T-Tom-iss, p-wease dun’ be mad… M’sowwy.” He begged, shakily reaching a hand up and trying to reach out to him, only to be stopped by the barrier separating the two. He wanted to say more to Thomas, he truly did, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to speak. Thomas, however, didn’t respond, he just stared the younger down.

He didn’t speak, nor even acknowledge what Logan had said. Then, he closed his eyes and slowly shook his head before turning his back to Logan and walking off into the darkness without a single word. Logan watched helplessly as Thomas disappeared from his sight. A harsh sob shook his body. Despite the fact that he didn’t even speak, Thomas’ reaction hurt him the most. His disappointed gaze felt like a punch to the gut, his lack of replies to his pleas and apologies, painful. _What had he done?_

Adult Logan knelt down next to him, leaning so his mouth was right next to his ear. _‘You are Logic, remember that or else this could be your future. Losing them would be the end of you. Remember.”_ With that last venomous word, the fog closed engulfed him once more, completely clouding his vision, and he screamed as he was grabbed and pulled into the darkness of the aura before he had been startled awake. The dream had been nothing more than a bunch of slightly unsettling visuals accompanied by some upsetting statements, it made no reasonable sense for him to be scared, _but he was._ The logical side felt scared, no, _terrified_ of what he had just dreamt up, he was terrified of everything he was just told and shown, he was… _scared._ He breathed heavily, eyes darting around the room in a blind panic. _Dark, way too dark._ His room was too dark.

Logan would’ve gotten out of his bed and bolted to Patton’s room, but he _couldn’t._ His room suddenly felt a lot bigger, darker and scarier to the small side. It felt like all the light had been sucked away, replaced with this dim, frightening emptiness that could only be seen in the evilest of minds. _Just like the dark room in his nightmare._ Logan almost felt like there was something hiding in that darkness, waiting for him to move so that it could sense him, and pounce so it could attack him. What if the creature that grabbed him was hiding? His blurred vision without his glasses didn’t help the situation either, it made everything look hazy, _just like the aura in his dream._

Logan was completely frozen to his bed, unable to move out of fear that the shadows would grab him. His shaking intensified as his mind began swimming with terrifying thoughts. _‘What if that thing is in my room? What if it’s waiting for me? What will it do if it gets me? Is it gonna kill me? I can’t die, Thomas and the others need me! What if it takes me away? I don’t want to get me! I wanna stay here! This is my home! I don’t wanna leave!’_ In a panic, he threw himself under the covers, hiding away from the darkness and the creatures that could be watching him.

His body was trembling like a leaf, and he felt ice cold. Soon, he began whimpering, and as the fear became unbearable, he began sobbing. He scrubbed at his eyes to try and stop the tears, only for them to be replaced by new ones seconds later, so his efforts proved pointless and he just gave up, letting the tears slide down his cheeks and drip onto the sheets of his bed. He wanted Patton, he wanted to feel safe and loved and cared for, he wanted to be held in his arms and told that everything would be alright and that it was just a dream, but he was in his own room fast asleep, and Logan was too scared to get out of bed, too scared of what could be lurking in that darkness that surrounded his room. He wrapped his arms around his body and curled up into a ball as he continued to cry heavily. This shouldn’t be frightening, this shouldn’t be making him cry, but it did. Logan tried to force out the negative thoughts that threatened to flood his mind, but they soon overpowered him.

 _‘What if the others really do think I’m rude, insensitive, and callous? What if I really have failed? I didn’t mean to… What if they do get rid of me? I don’t wanna go! I didn’t mean to! I wanna stay with them! I-!’_ Logan continued to sob as the negative thoughts became more prominent and loud, his mind becoming an echo chamber of voices and fears. Meanwhile, a certain anxious side was currently strolling his way down the hall towards the stairs. Virgil couldn’t sleep.

He had never really had good sleeping habits to begin with, even before opening up to the other sides, he had gotten better since then, but he still had his sleepless nights. The anxious side had grown accustomed to this, however, even if it could be a little annoying sometimes, and had come up with a routine. Normally, when he found himself not being able to sleep, he would head downstairs with his phone and headphones in his possession, and binge-watched conspiracy and creepy story videos or listened to music until his eyes stung and he was too tired to keep them open.

Not the healthiest way to deal with the situation, but hey, if it worked, it worked. Just as he passed Logan’s door though he stopped in his tracks when he heard faint sounds coming from inside. Virgil raised a brow and slowly made his way over to the dark blue door with the brain symbol painted on the front. The noises became much clearer once he was in front of said door, and he immediately recognized the familiar sound of harsh crying. He felt anxiety fill his body as various worries sprang to mind.

Why is he crying? Was he hurt? What happened? What-? Virgil’s body began running on autopilot as he quickly opened Logan’s door and peeked inside cautiously. He’d typically feel guilty for breaking someone else’s privacy like this, but at the moment he felt justified. He didn’t know what he was expecting to see. Logan laid out across the ground, bloodied and hurt? Logan being attacked by some horrifying monster that escaped Roman’s realm?? Logan being taken away by Deceit!? _‘Get those thoughts out of your head, Virgil! They’re not helping, they’re hindering!’_ He snapped at himself, last thing he needed to do right now was worry himself into a trance.

He pressed forward, stepping inside wordlessly. He glanced about the room, looking for any signs of Logan. Then his eyes fell on his bed, or more specifically, the little sobbing and shaking lump that was hidden under the covers. Virgil’s eyebrows shot up in concern and his face fell. The anxious side crossed over to the side of the bed and gently placed a hand on top of the blanket, making sure not to startle the child underneath. “Logan?” The boy in question tensed, then slowly peaked out from under the covers, teary eyes meeting Virgil’s worry filled ones. “Hey, buddy.” Virgil’s voice went soft and low, worry leaking into his tone when he saw just how upset the little one looked.

It made his heart hurt to see him in such a distressed state. Logan sniffled, then lifted his arms shakily and made grabby hands at the older side. “‘i-irgil…” He whimpered, tears still streaming down his face and lip quivering. Virgil wasted no time in wrapping his arms around the disgruntled child and pulling him close. He shifted them so that he was sitting on Logan’s bed with the child resting against him in his lap. Logan buried himself in the anxious side’s chest and clung to the warmth of his jacket. Virgil brought a hand to the back of his head and ran it through his soft hair.

Logan leaned into the touch, sniffling as the fear and worry slowly faded away a little bit with love and safety beginning to take its place. The poor thing was still trembling uncontrollably, heavy sobs wracking his small body despite the new-found comfort from his fellow side. Needless to say, this all lead Virgil to be quite worried about the child in his arms. “What’s got you so shaken up, Lo?” The anxious side asked softly. When he was met with no reply, he simply took a guess, coming to the simplest conclusion that came to his mind. “Bad dream, buddy?” It was a shot in the dark, but considering it was late at night, and nothing else appeared out of place, it wasn’t completely out of the question.

Logan nodded his head slowly, tightening his grip on Virgil’s jacket. Virgil’s face softened sympathetically, knowing exactly how Logan must be feeling right now as he had been in the boy’s place many, many times. Poor thing. The logical side shifted his head to look up at him, fear and distress clear on his face. “M-M’ scared ‘irgil.” He sobbed, shutting his eyes tightly as more tears slipped free. Virgil frowned, bringing the crying child a little closer. “Oh, Lo.” He whispered. “You wanna talk about your dream, bud? Might help you feel better.” The anxious side encouraged.

Logan whimpered, hiding his face back in the anxious side’s chest. Anxiety didn’t force him to say anything, he simply waited until the little one felt he was ready to talk. Forcing him to talk would only cause more problems, and the anxious side didn’t want to risk breaking the logical side’s trust. Logan sniffled, pulling his head away from the older side’s chest fully this time, and rubbing his eyes again to try and get rid of the tears, still to no avail, before he took a deep, shaky breath and beginning to talk.

“It was dawk, an’ you, an’ Ro, an’ Patt was d’are. Yous mad, weally mad,” Logan’s voice wavered a tad. “an’ Ro say’d I’s wude an’ in-in-s-sen-sit-ive an’ caww-ous, an’ you say’d I’s not doin’ m-my job wight, a-an’ Patt say’d dat i-if I’s not doin’ my job wight, den’ you shouwd w-weave m-me,” He had to pause and bite his lip as a particularly harsh sob hit him. Virgil was fast to step in. “ _Breath,_ Logan. Take your time, don’t force it out.” He encouraged, assuring the child not to break down, and that he was here and he would be patient, so there was no need to rush it. 

Logan nodded, doing as he was instructed, taking a few shaky breaths until he felt calm enough to continue. “an’ den’ you w-weft. You weft me! I t’ied to fowwow you, b-but I couwdn’t cuz-a tha in-v-v-isa-ble wall! I tolds you ta come back an’ I stawted cwying, but yous not come back!” He practically shouted, voice full of actual hurt and dismay, taking Virgil aback. “Den, Den tha fog monswer tooked me a-a’way! Dun’ wanna be tooked a’way! Wanna stay wiff you an’ Ro an’ Patt! I-I- n-no…” His voice trailed off. Virgil’s eyes widened in surprise, that had not at all been what he was expecting.

The anxious side thought Logan’s nightmare had been little more than something small, like falling from a high hight, or being chased by something scary, you know, something common, not... _that._ “Logan…” Virgil was a little shocked to be completely honest, he didn’t think it was possible for a young child to have such an unsettling nightmare, as children’s nightmares were often more small and simple and of things that children were commonly scared of, like spiders or heights, not the concept of abandonment or their loved one’s turning against them.

“I dun’ mean to...” Logan wept, fresh tears starting to slide down his cheeks as he hid his face away again. “Didn’t mean to what?” That question was more of Virgil thinking out loud than actually asking, he was still in shock and trying to process the nature of Logan’s nightmare so he could better understand what this all meant and how he could help dispel the scared child’s fears and worries. “I dun’ m-means to be bad at my job…” he mumbled brokenly. Virgil shook his head frantically. “No, no, no, no, Logan, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not bad at your job.” He was quick to try and get rid of that idea immediately, and the sooner the better.

“B-But… you say’d-.” Virgil cut him off straight away, not giving him a chance to even think of finishing that sentence. _“I_ didn’t, your dream did, Logan. I’ve never thought that you’ve been bad at your job, ever.” He assured, tone becoming a little serious. Logan brought his head out of the anxious side’s chest again, looking up at him with teary eyes. “But Ro an’ Patt-.” He tried, but Virgil cut him again.

“They don’t think you’re doing bad at your job either, and I know that for a fact. Roman and you might not get along, but I doubt he thinks your doing a bad job, and I’m pretty sure Dad doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, so the day I hear him say you’re doing a bad job is the day I start spitting rainbows and vomiting sparkles.” He explained firmly, despite the humor of his last statement and giving him a stern gaze. He noticed the look in Logan’s eyes, the words dancing on the tip of his tongue and dispelled his worries immediately. “And before you say it, Thomas doesn’t think so either.” Logan blinked, staring at Virgil in surprise.

How did he know what he was going to say before he even said it? The anxious side stroked his head, eyes softening from their previous sternness, as did his voice. “Logan, you do great at your job as Thomas’ logic. I know how it feels to think you’re doing a sucky job at what you do, to feel like everything you do is wrong and that everyone is against you, but then, a certain three dorks came in and assured me that I wasn’t, and one of those dorks happened to be you. You’re not doing anywhere near a bad job, Logan. You’re doing just fine.”

He smiled kindly down at the floored looking child. “And as for you getting taken away, not happening. None of us would even think of letting that happen. We care about you way too much to let something take you from us. This is your home, buddy. If you were taken away, Roman, Patton and I would search the whole freaking Mindscape to find you, other realms and all.” Virgil cupped his cheeks in his hands, gently wiping his tears away with his thumbs, and keeping his eyes locked with Logan’s. “We care about you Lo, and we would _never_ let anything happen to you.” He emphasized his statement by placing a light kiss on the child’s forehead, completely stunning him.

Similarly to the first kiss Patton had given him, a small electric feeling ran through his body, almost like how electricity runs through a wire. A minute passed, then slowly, Logan’s face scrunched up, though this time not from fear or sadness, but from overwhelming positive emotions and love. “‘i-irgil...” He whimpered, honestly on the verge of tears again and really wanted a hug right now because god dammit that fucking made him emotional. Virgil smiled warmly at the smaller side, wrapping his arms back around him and pulling him closer once more. “C'mere, buddy.” He soothed, rocking his body slowly as Logan gripped his jacket and curled up in his arms, letting that sweet warm feeling wash over his body.

Virgil hated seeing Logan like this because it reminded him so much of himself. He had a bad relationship with sleeping, nightmares were a common occurrence in his everyday life, and he had found himself in Logan’s place many times in the dead of night, scared, crying, and too shaken up to leave his bed. He used to try and keep it to himself, not wanting to bother any of the other sides with his problems, and with it being so late, but after opening up to them and becoming accepted in their group, he started reluctantly going to one of them, mainly Patton because he trusted him the most, when he needed someone to talk to about his fears.

Virgil seeing the logical side in the same state he had been in so many times before burned him up inside, he’d be _damned_ if he let Logan fall into that toxic habit that he was once stuck in, and he was internally beating himself up for not being able to do anything else to help him. He wished he could erase the nightmares from the child’s mind so he didn't have to think of them and their scary meanings. He knew the positive benefits of a good cry, of talking about your fears and negative thoughts with someone you trusted, and especially of having someone there to listen as you voice your worries and to comfort you and assure you that you’re safe. Even if it was hard to ask for help, the benefits outway the embarrassment and shame.

He was going to need to talk with Patton about this tomorrow. Gradually, Logan’s trembling began to cease, his breathing evened out, and he was no longer clinging to Virgil’s jacket, instead, he was just laid there in content, the fear now gone. “Feeling better, little buddy?” Logan nodded and let out a tiny yawn, interestingly not saying anything about being referred to as “little” this time around. Virgil smirked, chuckling lightly. “Tired again?” Logan hummed softly, nodding again as he tried to burrow deeper into the anxious side’s jacket, wanting nothing more than to just drift off to sleep while enclosed in the older side’s warmth. “Hm, let’s get you into bed then. Don’t want you being grumpy from lack of sleep tomorrow. That wouldn't be fun for any of us.”

The anxious side stood from the bed, pulling back Logan’s blanket and gingerly laying him on the under the covers. He placed the placed the blanket over the child and smiled when Logan yawned again. “Night, buddy. I’ll see ya in the morning.” He whispered, rubbing his back in a soothing manner. When he turned to leave, he felt a tiny hand grasp the sleeve of his jacket and tug lightly. He turned back and raised an eyebrow at Logan, who was giving him a pleading look.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” He asked, sitting back on his spot on the bed and returning his hand to the child’s back. Logan bit his lip, then stared up at Virgil nervously. “Stay… pwease?” He mumbled timidly, a little embarrassed that he was still a tad scared of being alone right now after all that. Virgil thought for a moment, then his face softened and he stood up again. “Okay, I’ll stay with you tonight.” The anxious side shed his jacket, he may get cold easily but like hell was he going to smother himself under the heat of that jacket _plus_ Logan’s thick blanket, climbed into the bed and settled under the covers next to Logan.

The smaller side was snuggled close to Virgil in a matter of seconds, sighing contently as an immense sense of protection and tenderness enveloped him. Virgil smiled fondly down at the sleepy child, wrapping his arms around Logan and holding him protectively. Heh, so much for staying up late and watching Youtube. Logan’s eyes slowly slid closed as he succumbed to the hold sleep had on him. Suddenly, the darkness didn’t seem so scary anymore, and the monsters were less of a worry for him. Everything was okay, and he was safe with Virgil there to protect him.


End file.
